A recent controversy in which some employers across the country were asking employees and applicants to turn over the login details for their personal social networking accounts led to the California state Assembly to pass a law prohibiting the practice.
Assembly Bill 1844, sponsored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos, a San Jose Democrat, was recently passed by the legislative body without a dissenting vote, according to a report from the
Los Angeles Times. This bill prohibits employers from asking for login details so they can view information listed as private by the worker or applicant, but anything that is publically available is still fair game. Eight other states across the country have introduced similar bills.
"We feel very strongly about this issue," San Francisco State Senator Leland Yee, a Democrat who introduced similar legislation in that house, told the newspaper. "What's private and personal should remain private and personal. Nobody should have to give up any of that information to get a job or to get admitted to a university."
Eduard Goodman, chief privacy officer for
Identity Theft 911, has a blog about the ways in which consumers can increase the protection of their information on social networks.
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