Don Martino of Ottawa is looking for a job.
When asked if employers should be able to look at his information online, he says, "We're living in a modern-technology society, and all employers should be able to get a good idea what the talent pool is like out there."
As part of his job hunt, Martino is willing to share his data – in fact, he sees it as an advantage.
However Melanie Polowin an employment lawyer in Ottawa who specializes in the online world as it relates to the law, employers and employees. She says it's not as clear-cut as you might think
"We don't understand how much we don't know about this. We don't understand how much information about us is out there, and employers don't understand how they can get into trouble by accident.
"For perspective, employees don't understand how much they can get in trouble, and how much they can disqualify themselves for a job and not even know why."
Between Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and personal websites, a company thinking of hiring you could find out a lot.
Polowin says human rights and privacy laws dictate when an employer can do an online search.
It can only begin after you've been short-listed. She advises companies to have a policy on what sites will be viewed, for what information, and how to use it.
"The law has not caught up with the cyber world, and so our current laws don't really adapt well to what we are seeing and what the problems are."
Polowin says a good rule of thumb is that an employer can look for professional but not personal information – in other words, what would be in a resume. And you can only look at that when you have moved deeper into the hiring process.
For individuals, she advised that you Goggle yourself regularly. Find out what an employer would see if they went looking. People need to be responsible for their online image
Marie-Laure Blais-Crepeau says, "Your whole life is out there for anyone, so anyone can use your information for their own purposes or to benefit you. You just always have to be careful when putting that information out there."
Armeneh Martino thinks you should use the web, but "whenever you're putting personal information out there on Twitter or Facebook, or whatever, you need to be aware that it always possible that anyone can get it. So you have to keep that in mind."
While legal disputes on this issue are not jamming the courts, Polowin says they are starting to see cases and judges are beginning to recognize the new reality.
"The online world is no different from the workplace world, with one exception. As one adjudicator put it, it's a unique universe because any one person with access to a computer can access what you have put online, and put it out for the world, forever."
