Whenever people are presented with new forms of technology, it takes some time to figure out the boundaries of intelligent behavior as it relates to the use of that new technology. One issue that perennially arises is the over-sharing of private information. Those of us old enough to remember when answering machines became popular in the 1980s recall people leaving outgoing messages along the lines of, “sorry I can’t answer the phone, I’m in Aruba for the weekend.” This led to burglaries of houses because someone knew from listening to the outgoing message that the resident would be away. Eventually, people began leaving more generic outgoing messages.

Current social networking sites have a similar danger –recently there has been a spate of news reports about burglaries involving people who posted on their Facebook wall that they were away from home. What’s new and different about modern social networking sites is that some sites – Foursquare and Gowalla are examples – exist solely to share their users’ location with the world.

If burglars can use this information to their advantage, why wouldn’t employers? Employers often use many forms of background check on new employees – credit checks and criminal background checks have been used for years and most employers routinely Google an applicant. A 2009 survey done by CareerBuilder.com indicated that 45% of employers now use social networking sites to screen applicants.

So what can a location-sharing service tell employers looking to screen applicants? Employers will be able to see how often applicants go out and where they go. Does the applicant spend every evening at the same bar? Does he or she spend hours each day in church, or visiting a mental health professional? These are all items employers may find interesting and that applicants may prefer prospective employers not discover. Only time will tell whether employers make use of location-sharing.