I was asking the students what they understood by the term privacy and what they do to protect it… we looked at ads for internet protection software and their use of peodophile stereotypes… we read a range of websites that operate through the confessional mode, from Post Secret to Passive-Aggressive Notes. I even sang a version of a song from my childhood that was part of a series of “stranger danger” campaigns (My Body, which Google tells me was written by Peter Alsop): “My body’s nobody’s body but mine; You run your own body, let me run mine”.

But for me, the most disturbing revelation came in tutorials, when students started talking about how many employers are now asking for print-outs of Facebook profiles from job applicants. It sounded particularly common in entertainment and service industries, even though I detected some were suggesting it was commonplace in corporate interviews as well–that it should be taken for granted if you were looking to work for a significant firm.

What struck me about this was that even though students were incredibly articulate about protecting their reputation from the perceptions of others in their peer group, they seemed less capable of arguing how to respond to these other kinds of privacy invasion coming from the workplace. This brings together a range of concerns I’ve been writing about in recent years, and I’d be keen to hear from those who know more about it to reassure me that this is definitely illegal. And, if you have any tips as to which companies engage in this profiling practice please get in touch, publicly or privately