A law, approved by the German Federal Cabinet, states that only professional social networks can be used to search for information on employees. Searching personal sites, like Facebook, would amount to a 'private fishing expedition' according to the new law. FE and HE institutions, as employers, can seek guidance on the UK position from the Employment Practices Code issued by the Information Commissioner's Office. This states that employers should make it clear 'on the application form or surrounding documents, explaining what information will be sought and from whom.' So only searches that are expected by an applicant, should be used. Searching professional sites such as LinkedIn would probably be fine, but searching personal webpages could lead to claims for discrimination and intrusion of privacy. The full ariticle is available at: http://www.out-law.com/page-11336. To access the Code, please go to: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/detailed_specialist_guides/employment_practices_code.pdf.