State Laws Prohibiting Employers From Asking for Applicants‟ or Employees‟ Social Media Passwords


OVERVIEW Increasing numbers of Americans use social media both on


and off the job. Recently, some employers have asked employees to turn over their usernames or passwords for their personal accounts. Some employers argue that access to personal accounts is needed to protect proprietary information or trade secrets, to comply with federal financial regulations, or to prevent the employer from being exposed to legal liabilities. But others consider requiring access to personal accounts an invasion of employee privacy. State lawmakers introduced legislation beginning in 2012 to prevent employers from requesting passwords to personal Internet accounts to get or keep a job. Some states have similar legislation to protect students in public colleges and universities from having to grant access to their social networking accounts. Legislation has been introduced or is pending in at least 28 states and has been enacted in Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Wisconsin in 2014.


Source: Employer Access to Social Media Usernames and Passwords SOCIAL MEDIA LAW ARTICLES INDEX FOR 2014 FROM THE BACKGROUND BUZZ (14 ARTICLES)


Nationwide | Survey: HR Execs Split on if Social Media Impacts Hiring In a poll of 100 HR executives, 60% confirmed that they either always or sometimes check candidates' social media activity, but only 6% said that activity has a significant impact on their hiring decision.


January 03, 2014 | Nationwide | Facebook Isn't a Good Way to Judge Potential Employees A new study from researchers at Florida State University, Old Dominion University, Clemson University, and Accenture, suggests Facebook is bunk as a job performance predictor.


January 29, 2014 | Pittsburg, PA | New Social Media Tool Pushes Employment Screening Frontier Job Seeker Insight (JSI), a subsidiary of JD Palatine, is launching its powerful new tool that allows executives and thought leaders to control the employment screening process.


March 19, 2014 | Nationwide | Applicant Screening, 'Friend' Requests and Workplace Investigations As employer social media practices continue to evolve, individuals and privacy advocacy groups have grown increasingly concerned about employers intruding upon applicants' or employees' privacy. April 14, 2014 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin Adopts Password Protection Law Wisconsin has become the thirteenth state to enact a law limiting the circumstances under which employers may request or require access to the personal internet accounts of applicants and employees.


May 05, 2014 | Nationwide | Seyfarth Shaw's Social Media Privacy Legislation Reference Seyfarth's Social Media Practice Group has prepared an easy-to-use "Social Media Privacy Legislation Desktop Reference," as a starting point to formulating guidance when issues arise.


May 14, 2014 | Tennessee | Tennessee Joins the Growing List of States Limiting Employers' Access Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has signed his own state's password protection law. This new law goes into effect on January 1, 2015.


June 10, 2014 | Oklahoma and Louisiana | Oklahoma and Louisiana Become Enact Social Media Laws Oklahoma and Louisiana have enacted their own legislation aimed at restricting access by employers to applicants' and employees' personal online content.


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