US - Disclosure and information leak laws?

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Let's assume that I disclosed information about my mental problems before my job interview (for a US company). Are there any laws that explicitly forbid the HRs to leak this information to another companies?

Not that I know of, that said what incentive is there for said company to go to the expense and trouble of tarnishing your name with other companies? If they didn't want you and think you're a liability they'd have every incentive to get you on with a competitor...

From my past experience, HRs do exchange information. At least in the country where I'm from, and I don't think that HRs in different countries are all totally different.
There was a case once, when a guy I worked with started a libel about me and soon after most HRs in the city bought that lie.
I was told about this story by a CTO from one of the companies where I worked before it happened.

I don't know what country you're from but the US has over 350 million people, even our small industries have large populations, it's almost impossible to blacklist someone by word of mouth here. I wouldn't worry about it, since even if it does happen it's out of your control.

I think that you just underestimate malevolence of top management. https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google- ... 5-million/


It's not out of my control until I disclosed it.

First, the seven companies listed are major players, but they're not the entire industry, not even close. Second, how it was disclosed is irrelevant, you have no control over it now, worrying about past mistakes will do nothing for you.

I do have control over it, as I haven't disclosed it yet.

Well then, don't disclose it in the future and problem solved.

So, you think that probability of it making problems in the future is not zero.

What I think is that you've got a decent amount of paranoia and fear over the situation. Neither is rational, and you sound like a rational person. So my advise is to put it in the back of your mind because you really don't have any control over what Apple or Microsoft's hiring practices are, nor do you have any control over an H.R. department that decides to shit-talk you to their competitors. All this worry could be put to more productive use.

It's not paranoia when you do know that HRs plot against job seekers.

Considering possible pros and cons of doing something is not irrational. Not doing so is.

I suspect that you mean reading "Cracking the code interview" and something something about positive thinking.

It's not the pros/cons I'm talking about, it's your worry over other people's decisions. You have no control over that, it's irrational to worry about it, so don't. All you can do is make yourself into the most appealing candidate for the job you can. Also, since we're talking programming, there are a boatload of companies out there and many small ones that just plain don't have the resources to waste blackballing someone.

And my quip about 'being productive' was not positive thinking bs, lol, more like: to land the job what do you think is going to be a bigger asset, you worrying about what the H.R. department may or may not know about you or learning a new language/api/library to enhance your skills? Time is actually the most limited thing a human has, use it wisely.

The way H.R. works in the states: you're going to provide three references and a work history to the company. The H.R. may or may not check those references (it's a toss up in my experience) and they're going to contact the last two companies on your history to verify you did indeed work there. That's it, they're not going to ask said companies for anything more than verification. If you pass that part and your work history matches the experience they're looking for you'll most likely get an interview and possibly a skill test. It's very pedantic.

I do have control - to disclose or not disclose. Looking at the latest news, the first option looks kinda tempting. Maybe they genuinely want to help, and all this is not just about PR. But my inner paranoic says that I'd better think of the cons first.

I'm already in the top 1% in terms of real productivity and experience. The problem is, this doesn't really help to get a new job. It may be just my bad luck, but some 90% interviews looked more like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-jHZRY5gjI

That was a funny clip, I've never heard of the movie it came from though. Aside from comedy there's a good lesson there: if you really want the job mimic what the interviewer wants even if that's not your personality. That's a hard task for a lot of autistics, especially the STEM oriented type that have black and white thinking.

Now, as for the main topic I would recommend looking through the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), if there's any kind of protection from one company disclosing it's H.R. information regarding disability with another company's H.R. it would be in there. I've never claimed a disability here so I've never browsed through it, but there may be a protection. It may also fall under medical disclosure laws, which are pretty patient oriented here, but may not apply since you've released it to a third party (the initial job) outside your health network. As for intent to do so though, most companies over here are concerned about how much you can grind it out (like the video) more than anything else, disability included.

One thing I would recommend if you do apply for jobs in the tech field over here: youth is currently seen as an advantage, something it wasn't 10-15 years ago. Point being, tailor your resume to highlight 'skills' as opposed to 'experience', because experience can also come off as 'old'.

I don't think that you understood that video.

I was referencing the end of the video where all the workers stopped their clerical sweatshop labor to sing the company fight song, before resuming their sweatshop labor.