Here’s something you can “like”, “re-tweet” and “pin”… If you live in Illinois, it’s now illegal for your boss to force you to hand over your social media passwords.
On August 1st, the “Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act” was signed into law, making Illinois the second state to ban employer requests for social media passwords. Maryland just passed a password-protection law of its own.
While Illinois and Maryland are the first states to come up with social media-related legislation, they aren’t the only ones taking up the issue. Delaware recently passed a law forbidding higher education institutions from forcing students to hand over social media account information, and several other states are considering employee password protection. The federal government is also talking about some kind of national law that would protect social media users’ account information.
In addition to protecting passwords, Illinois’ new law will also prevent employers from demanding access in any way, shape, or form to an employee’s or a prospective employee’s social media profiles. The law makes it illegal for employers to even ask for the information.
Illinois’ new law will take effect on January 1, 2013.