California passes bill to stop employers demanding logins
updated 06:28 pm EDT, Fri May 11, 2012
Passing Facebook passwords to employers being blocked in California
The state of California is close to banning requests from employers to interviewees and the workforce in general for Facebook login details. Assembly Bill 1844, passed yesterday, would protect workers from being asked for their social-network usernames and passwords, minimizing personal liability from disclosing private information.
The bill in question is seen as a preventative measure, with the practice acknowledged not to be widespread by bill sponsor Assemblywoman Nora Campos of San Jose. Although employers would be stopped from looking at private updates, connections, and messages, they would still be allowed to see any information about a user viewable by the general public. Facebook has previously suggested that employers are overstepping the mark by asking for security credentials, with hints that they may take legal action against those that do.
Nine other states have introduced similar legislation to stop the practice, however an attempted ammendment to the FCC Process Reform Act of 2012 failed to pass muster, being voted down 236 to 184. [via LA Times]
