Maryland has become the first state to officially prohibit employers from requiring that applicants or employees disclose their user names or passwords for websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Last week, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed the controversial Senate Bill 433 which goes into effect October 1, 2012.
The new law applies to applicants’ and employees’ user names, passwords or any other means used to access personal accounts though any electronic communications device. These devices include computers, telephones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and similar electronic devices.
Under the new law:
- Employers may not request or require user names or passwords from employees or applicants
- Employers may not discipline an employee for refusing to provide a user name or password
- Employers may not refuse to hire an applicant for refusing to disclose a user name or password
- Employers may require user names and passwords used to access an employer’s internal computers and accounts, and
- Employers may investigate unauthorized downloading to a personal web site or account by an employee.
At least seven other states have introduced legislation to restrict employer access to social media user names and passwords. Submit a comment below and tell us what you think!