A new report on social media includes listings of laws and some practical advice when it comes to dealing with the new communications channels.
For instance, how to avoid violating privacy rules when checking out possible hires on Facebook.
How to navigate those relatively uncharted waters was something Robert Reh said helps make the new BITS report on social media management and risk a valuable handbook.
Reh is CIO at the $366 million Nassau Financial Credit Union in Westbury, N.Y., and one of the financial industry professionals who participated in the research and production of the just-released, 71-page report – “Social Media Risks and Mitigation” – from BITS, the technology arm of the Financial Services Roundtable.
Reh said the document provides practical advice and information, including a listing of laws and regulations, and discusses the ramifications of restricting employee access and usage of such services as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook on company time and property, both for personal and work-related use.
For instance, when it comes to vetting potential hires, “the paper has some really good suggestions, one being to have a professionally responsible third party investigate position candidates on social media and only report the findings about the person that directly relate to requirements of the position so that any unrelated personal info found is not being used in employee recruitment that could be discriminatory,” Reh said.
The experience of working on the project with a diverse group of communications, security and technology specialists also proved valuable, Reh said.
“Helping to write this paper provided a great example of how a group working together can bring such varied expertise and knowledge that individuals alone don't have by themselves, and through their sharing produced this paper that covers such a comprehensive approach to the subject of social media risks by FIs,” said Reh, who’s also current vice chair of the CUNA Technology Council.
