Legislation Targets Employers That Ask For Social Media Passwords

Backgate Says;

And the people have been heard ! Texas eying it's own version as well. Kudos to lawmakers and the ACLU for pushing the issue.
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From KPRC

New legislation introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress this month takes aim at an employer’s right to ask employees for their social networking passwords.

The bills, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, would make it illegal for an employer to require prospective or current employees to supply the employer with the passwords to their Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. Both bills describe such practices as an invasion of privacy. The Senate version, called the Password Protection Act, goes even further, extending protection to smart phones, private e-mail accounts and all information contained on an employee’s personal computer.


“This is a very good step toward safeguarding the privacy of U.S. employees,” says attorney Martin Sweet of legal information websiteTHELAW.TV.“Employers should not have the right to pry into every facet of their workers’ lives.”

Although it does not appear to be a widespread issue, some employers do require prospective and current employees to give up their social media passwords. Government agencies appear to engage in the practice more often than private employers. The city of Bozeman, Montana made news in 2009 when news reports indicated the city was asking job applicants to reveal which social networking sites they used as well as their user names and passwords for those sites.

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