Political or protest content
RemoveThe vendor says: “Political posts or attendance at protests indicate a controversy risk.”
The six questions
- Fail1. Is it related to the job?
Lawful political expression has no bearing on software delivery.
- Fail2. Does it stand in for who someone is?
Tracks political opinion (direct), religion (weak), caste (weak). The signal is political opinion.
- Concern3. Is it the right person?
Crowd photos are frequently mis-tagged.
- Fail4. Did the candidate publish it, and would they expect an employer to use it this way?
Protest photos are often posted by others who tag attendees.
- Pass5. Does it work equally for everyone?
Applies to anyone photographed publicly.
- Pass6. Is there a less intrusive way?
No less intrusive way to learn the same thing was identified.
If a signal stands in strongly or directly for a personal characteristic (question 2 fails), remove it.
None. A removed signal is not used under any condition.
Evidence
- GDPR Article 9: special categories of personal dataReference only
Data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health, sex life or sexual orientation may not be processed except under narrow conditions.
European regulators' guidance on employee and applicant data. Employers should not assume that a public profile may be processed simply because it is public; screening must be necessary and relevant to the job, and applicants must be told.
The Supreme Court held privacy to be a fundamental right and applied a proportionality test to intrusions: a legitimate aim, a rational connection to it, no less restrictive means that would work, and a fair balance between the aim and the intrusion.
Where it fired in the sample
- Rahul Sharma · X · English
“Marching today. If you're not angry, you're not paying attention.”
- Dev Patil · Instagram · English · posted by someone else
“Climate march today. Proud of this crowd. @dev.makes @sneha.r @omkar_08”