I happen know a lot of HR people from different organizations and have discussed this very question with them. As a class, they seem discourage this sort of bac

I happen know a lot of HR people from different organizations and have discussed this very question with them. As a class, they seem discourage this sort of background research, and to strongly discourage hiring managers from doing it directly. Rightly or wrongly, HR people seem to feel it is very easy to cross an ethical or legal line by researching someone online and especially on social networks. They are also probably overly cautious as a class. My guess is that hiring managers are more likely to do this sort of research than an HR person (except in very large organizations where there's a formal "background check" sort of step in the hiring process).