Published:
Thursday, May 23, 2013
On Tuesday, the state legislature gave Washingtonians something to celebrate. Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law new privacy protections for social media account passwords. The act prohibits employers from asking employees or job applicants for passwords to their personal profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. It also prevents them from forcing workers to “friend” supervisors so that they can access and monitor an employee’s posts, or from making workers access their accounts in the employer’s presence. Inslee’s signature makes Washington the eighth state to provide protections for privacy and free speech on social media sites.
The new law is a response to cases across the country where employers demanded access to an employee’s or job candidate’s profile. The trend inspired attempts to pass legislation in numerous state legislatures and in Congress. Here in Washington, the act received bi-partisan support and provides benefits to both workers and employers. Workers now have guarantees that their personal online profiles are private. Additionally, they are protected from retaliation for refusing to share access with employers. The bill also preserves an employer’s ability to conduct investigations into potential wrongdoing within their organization in accordance with existing law in a manner that does not request or require login information.
It’s a win-win situation and a big one at that! In the words of the act’s sponsor, Sen. Steve Hobbs, “we don't have to sacrifice our privacy for advances in technology.” Washingtonians can be proud of the progress we made this week and can rest assured that the ACLU will continue its efforts to make sure that privacy policy keeps pace with technology.
Explore More:
