On September 27, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a
pair of privacy laws, AB 1844 and SB 1349, protecting the rights of individuals
from having to personal account names and passwords to schools, employers, and prospective employers. California is the first state to enact laws
protecting both students and workers.
These include passwords for such accounts as Facebook, Twitter, Linked in and
personal email accounts. Notice the word "personal". Very important.
Undoubtedly, other states that may not have these in process
will follow California’s lead. "The
Golden State is pioneering the social media revolution, and these laws will
protect all Californians from unwarranted invasions of their personal social
media accounts," Brown said in a statement. Maryland and Illinois
have laws in affect for workers, and Delaware, for students.
These laws will
become effective on January 1. Kudos to
the legislature for doing this and to Brown for signing the measures. "No boss should be able to ask for this
kind of personal information," said state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. Yee wrote California bill SB 1349. Assemblywoman Nora Campos was the primary
driver for AB 1844.
- Under AB 1844, it will be illegal for employers ask employees or job applicants for the user
names and passwords to their social media accounts. Five state senators actually voted no on this
- Anderson, Blakeslee, Correa, Gaines, and Walters!
- Under SB 1349, it will be illegal
for colleges/universities to ask students/perspective students for their social
media account info. No one voted against
this measure.
What this does not do (of course) is protect individuals
from themselves. While employers ask for
neither account names nor passwords, there is nothing to prevent them from
using Google, Bing, or any other search engines to find out information or to
go onto Facebook, for example, to see what you may have posted for the universe
to see. Fear the default privacy
settings! The bill don't talk about enforcement or penalties for non-compliance.
You may want to read "25
most-used passwords revealed: Is yours one of them?" There are numerous articles online on creating (more) difficult to figure out passwords.
The text of the two bills passed and links to additional details
are below.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S
DIGEST
AB 1844, Campos. Employer use of social media.
Existing law generally regulates the conduct of employers in
the state.
This bill would prohibit an employer from requiring or
requesting an employee or applicant for employment to disclose a username or
password for accessing personal social media, to access personal social media
in the presence of the employer, or to divulge any personal social media. This bill would also prohibit an employer
from discharging, disciplining, threatening to discharge or discipline, or
otherwise retaliating against an employee or applicant for not complying with a
request or demand by the employer that violates these provisions.
Under existing law, the Labor Commissioner, who is the Chief
of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial
Relations, is required to establish and maintain a field enforcement unit to
investigate specified violations of the Labor Code and other labor laws and to
enforce minimum labor standards. Existing
law authorizes, and under specified circumstances requires, the Labor
Commissioner to investigate employee complaints of violations of the Labor
Code, provide for a hearing, and determine all matters arising under his or her
jurisdiction.
This bill would provide that the Labor Commissioner is not
required to investigate or determine any violation of a provision of this bill.
SECTION 1.
Chapter 2.5
(commencing with Section 980) is added to Part 3 of Division 2 of the Labor
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2.5. Employer
Use of Social Media
(a) As used in this
chapter, “social media” means an electronic service or account, or electronic
content, including, but not limited to, videos, still photographs, blogs, video
blogs, podcasts, instant and text messages, email, online services or accounts,
or Internet Web site profiles or locations.
(b) An employer shall not require or request an employee or
applicant for employment to do any of the following:
(1) Disclose a username or password for the purpose of
accessing personal social media.
(2) Access personal social media in the presence of the
employer.
(3) Divulge any personal social media, except as provided in
subdivision (c).
(c) Nothing in this section shall affect an employer’s
existing rights and obligations to request an employee to divulge personal
social media reasonably believed to be relevant to an investigation of
allegations of employee misconduct or employee violation of applicable laws and
regulations, provided that the social media is used solely for purposes of that
investigation or a related proceeding.
(d) Nothing in this section precludes an employer from
requiring or requesting an employee to disclose a username, password, or other
method for accessing an employer-issued electronic device.
(e) An employer shall not discharge, discipline, threaten to
discharge or discipline, or otherwise retaliate against an employee or
applicant for not complying with a request or demand by the employer that
violates this section. However, this
section does not prohibit an employer from terminating or otherwise taking an
adverse action against an employee or applicant if otherwise permitted by law.
SEC. 2.
Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Labor Commissioner, who is Chief of the Division of
Labor Standards Enforcement, is not required to investigate or determine any
violation of this act.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S
DIGEST
SB 1349, Yee. Social media privacy: postsecondary
education.
Existing law establishes and sets forth the missions and
functions of the public and independent institutions of postsecondary education
in the state.
This bill would prohibit public and private postsecondary
educational institutions, and their employees and representatives, from
requiring or requesting a student, prospective student, or student group to
disclose, access, or divulge personal social media, as defined, information, as
specified. The bill would prohibit a
public or private postsecondary educational institution from threatening a
student, prospective student, or student group with or taking specified
pecuniary actions for refusing to comply with a request or demand that violates
that prohibition. The bill would require
a private nonprofit or for-profit postsecondary educational institution to post
its social media privacy policy on the institution’s Internet Web site.
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds
and declares that quickly evolving technologies, social media services, and
Internet Web sites create new challenges when seeking to protect the privacy
rights of students at California’s postsecondary educational institutions. It is the intent of the Legislature to
protect those rights and provide students with an opportunity for redress if
their rights are violated. It is also
the intent of the Legislature that public postsecondary educational
institutions match compliance and reporting requirements for private nonprofit
and for-profit postsecondary educational institutions imposed by this act.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 2.5
(commencing with Section 99120) is added to Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3
of the Education Code, to read: CHAPTER 2.5. Social
Media Privacy
As used in this chapter, “social media” means an electronic
service or account, or electronic content, including, but not limited to,
videos or still photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, instant and text
messages, email, online services or accounts, or Internet Web site profiles or
locations.
(a) Public and private postsecondary educational
institutions, and their employees and representatives, shall not require or
request a student, prospective student, or student group to do any of the
following:
(1) Disclose a user name or password for accessing personal
social media.
(2) Access personal social media in the presence of the
institution’s employee or representative.
(3) Divulge any personal social media information.
(b) A public or private postsecondary educational
institution shall not suspend, expel, discipline, threaten to take any of those
actions, or otherwise penalize a student, prospective student, or student group
in any way for refusing to comply with a request or demand that violates this section.
(c) This section shall not do either of the following:
(1) Affect a public or private postsecondary educational
institution’s existing rights and obligations to protect against and
investigate alleged student misconduct or violations of applicable laws and
regulations.
(2) Prohibit a public or private postsecondary educational
institution from taking any adverse action against a student, prospective
student, or student group for any lawful reason.
A private nonprofit or for-profit postsecondary educational
institution shall post its social media privacy policy on the institution’s
Internet Web site.
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