California, Illinois Employers Cannot Request For Employee Facebook Passwords

I am not quite sure just how the law allows employers to know an employee’s Facebook password in the first place, but I am glad that the courts have ruled that employers in California and Illinois no longer have the authority or rule of power to request for Facebook passwords from their employees. This particular law took effect as the clock struck 12:01 am in both the states of California and Illinois. Basically, employers can no longer request for social networking passwords as well as non-public account information from current or potential employees, and that would mean your social network shenanigans are safe, at least for the time being.

Just for context, Michigan passed a similar law last month. Employees should bear in mind that employers are still able to view any public posts, tweets or photos on the social networks, so make sure you have all of your privacy settings set right unless you want to run into trouble with a wayward comment or an awkward photo.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: Facebook, password