Password Protection Act: Bans Bosses Asking For Facebook Passwords

An anonymous reader writes "On the heels of a similar bill introduced last month. A group of Democrats today introduced legislation in both the House and Senate to prevent employers from forcing employers and job applicants into sharing information from their personal social networking accounts. In other words, Maryland may soon not be the only state that has banned employers demanding access to Facebook accounts. The Password Protection Act of 2012 (PPA) would also prevent employers from accessing information on any computer that isn't owned or controlled by an employee, including private e-mail accounts, photo sharing sites, and smartphones."

Comments

And now..

[Severus Snape]

They'll demand you add them as a friend!

Re:And now..

[cayenne8]

While I am all for this type of legislature, I have to ask myself, on what authority do the FEDS have to make this law?

I'm not sure how I see this falling into the interstate commerce clause? I mean, a person works in his state....money paid to him in a state in which he is responsible for state taxes, etc.

I would think this would have to be done on a state basis, and not a federal one?

Sorry, but these days...I'm questioning every law the feds are trying to pass, and trying to understand where the constitutional authority is for these mandates/laws.....

Re:If corporations are people

[SeaFox]

That's what happens when you have...

1. (Relatively) high unemployment.

2. A government that is pro-business and anti-employee rights for years and years.

3. Companies more and more feeling what an employee does on their personal time is their business because "it might reflect badly on the company".

Re:Here's an idea

[bky1701]

"Just don't use social media and you won't have to hide from your employer"

And when you tell them this, they believe you are lying and don't hire you. Or hell, consider that a personality flaw and don't hire you for being anti-social.

"Or.. Gasp... Be careful and keep it safe for work at all times. "

Because living in fear is exactly what we should all aspire to, right?

"One really should not put anything online that you would not want EVERYBODY to be able to read."

Bit of a difference between, say, posting on a blog, and being pressed into giving someone else a password to your private accounts. Would you be against letting them scan your hard drive for anything they might find objectionable? After all, what's the difference? Your computer is connected to the internet.

"Everything you put online, pictures, comments, blogs, chats etc. is going to be public information forever, or at least it CAN end up out living you. Remember that every time you are tempted to post."

Does that apply to spineless pro-corporate shilling on slashdot?


I kind of see this all as a non-issue. In some ways the loss of privacy is a bad thing... in other ways it is good. We didn't see much motion in the gay rights movement until people started to come out. I think the same is going to start to happen in other parts of society - the petty prejudices aren't going to hold up so well in an age where everyone is more open. Not to say I am for invasions of privacy, but it is going to happen, and it isn't all bad. I also can see being closed off as becoming something itself considered undesirable and I think rightly so.