Password Protection Act Will Make It Illegal For Employers To Demand Account Passwords


There is currently a troubling trend in some business sectors in which employers demand access to their employees Facebook, Twitter, and other personal online accounts. Employees can either hand over their passwords or force unemployment or a refusal to hire. Fed up with employers overstepping their legal bounds Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) have created the Password Protection Act. If the bill becomes law, it will become a crime for employers to demand an employees online account passwords.Introduced to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the bill protects both current employees and potential hires who have recently interviewed for an open position.

Speaking about his new bill, Perimutter explains:

“People have an expectation of privacy when using social media like Facebook and Twitter. They have an expectation that their right to free speech and religion will be respected when they use social media outlets.”

Perimutter continues:

“Without this protection, employers essentially can act as imposters and assume the identity of an employee and continually access, monitor and even manipulate an employee’s personal social activities and opinions.”

The Password Protection Act joins various other online privacy bills that have been submitted for approval by lawmakers throughout the United States.

Public outrage against the password requests made by employers boiled over in late 2012 when an Associated Press report exposed the practice. While the AP story didn’t predict how often the password requests occur, there have apparently been enough complaints to result in governmental action being taken.

Have you ever been fired or lost out on a job following an interview because you refused to give the employer access to Facebook, Twitter, or other personal social media accounts?

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