Some employers require that applicants provide their passwords to social networking sites as part of the application process. Increasingly, states are considering passing legislation that would ban this practice.
In 2012, Maryland became the first state in the nation to prohibit employers from requesting or requiring that an employee or job applicant disclose their user name and password to access a social networking account. Similar legislation has been introduced or considered in at least 23 states in 2015. As recently as this month, Connecticut adopted a law that bars employers or potential employers from requesting or requiring employees or potential employees to (1) provide passwords or usernames to their personal online accounts as a condition of employment or (2) invite the employer or potential employer to join their personal online account network. This month, similar legislation passed the House in Delaware.
Given this rapidly changing area of the law, employers that are currently requiring applicants or employees to provide their social networking passwords, or to invite the employer to their online account network, must ensure that those practices do not violate the laws in the states in which their employees are working.
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