New National Social Media Privacy Law has been introduced to Congress

As more and more states ban employers from asking an employee/applicant for their social media password, now Congress is proposing a bill that would prohibit employers and certain other entities from requiring or requesting that employees and certain other individuals provide a user name, password, or other means for accessing a personal account on any social networking website.  This Bill sponsored by Representative Elliot Engel, D-N.Y., has introduced H.R. 537, the "Social Networking Online Protection Act." If passed, it will address the concerns of more than twenty states that have similar legislation pending, and provide a national legal standard that has already been adopted in California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey. How would this legislation impact employer?  The standard will not change an employer’s ability to see what is shared publicly.  Employers who use social media for background screening or any other means will not be allowed to ask for passwords and employers who use social media screening in the states that have passed similar legislation must not ask for social media passwords. 

Click Here to Read the Proposed Act