Facebook: Like It! Perlmutter, Welch Introduce Password Protections For Employees

Press Release

Today, U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) and Peter Welch (VT) will introduce legislation with bipartisan support to prevent employers from requiring current and prospective employees to hand over their personal website passwords as a condition of either keeping or getting a job.

Perlmutter said, " No American should have to provide their confidential personal passwords as a condition of employment. People have an expectation of privacy when using social media like Facebook and Twitter. They have an expectation that their right to free speech and religion will be respected when they use social media outlets. Both users of social media and those who correspond with the user share an expectation of privacy in their personal communications. Without this protection, employers essentially can act as imposters and assume the identity of an employee and continually access, monitor and even manipulate an employee's personal social activities and opinions. That's simply a step too far."

Welch commented: "Employees have a legitimate expectation of privacy when using Facebook or Twitter. This legislation will prevent fishing expeditions into employees' private lives. While an employer may have a valid concern about the business impact of an employee's online activity, demanding passwords and unfettered access to private accounts is an over-the-top solution."

The "Password Protection Act of 2013" addresses recent news highlighting a disturbing increase in the number of employers asking prospective employees to hand over usernames and passwords to their personal accounts on sites like Facebook. Some job applicants are even being asked--during interviews--to log into these websites and allow interviewers to browse the applicant's profile, acquaintances, and other information. Others are being asked as a condition of new or continued employment to provide passwords on job applications or to "friend" the employer so the employer can view the applicant's private information.

Perlmutter introduced similar measures earlier this year and last year, and he will continue to work with House members to safeguard individuals' personal privacy.

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