Online job portal Monster.com faces probe over selling users data

Global employment website Monster.com has been facing a probe by a trial court over data selling charges of website users to a third party.

According to ET report, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Naresh Kumar Laka said that online companies can not share users’ personal information with third parties without users’ informed consent.

The concern is raised after the Supreme Court upheld that privacy to be a fundamental right. The apex court noted that there is an urgent need to restrain online firms from invading the privacy of individuals.

"It is common knowledge that when a person applies for a job on the internet s/he feeds personal information which includes name, address and mobile number. In my opinion, the said data being personal information cannot be transferred/shared/sold to some third person without the consent of the said person," the court said.

The SC’s judegment will have far reaching consequences for Internet companies including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Uber and others which rely on taking consent from users when they sign up for services and agree to their privacy policy.

In its defence, the company said it had told police that it had entered into a lawful contract for selling data. It relied on the clause of acceptance of agreement between job-seekers and the portal and said the terms of the agreements amount to the company taking consent of all users for sharing of their data.

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Monster.com was created in 1999 by Jeff Taylor, through the merger of The Monster Board (TMB) and Online Career Center (OCC). Monster is primarily used to help those seeking work to find job openings, for lower to mid-level employment, that match their skills and location.

Online job postings in June rose 11% from a year ago driven by the financial sector, a survey by online job portal Monster.com found. The latest Monster Employment Index stands at 274, up from 237 a year ago.

According to its survey, sales and business development (up 28%), software, hardware and telecom (up 23%), and hospitality and travel (up 23%) featured among the most sought after job roles.

Monster.com: Website