Illinois Bill Would Outlaw Employers From Asking For Applicants' Social Media Passwords

An Illinois legislator has introduced a proposal that would bar employers from asking prospective employees for their usernames or passwords in order to gain access to their profiles on sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) introduced the bill (HB 3782) last spring, but the measure was recently taken up by the state legislature's Labor Committee.

The bill would amend the state's Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act to make it illegal for employers to gain access to a prospective employee's account on any social networking site during the hiring process.

The measure would not, however, prevent employers from considering information found on an applicants' public profile -- such content remains fair game and as many as 50 percent of employers say they rely on social networking sites to help them screen potential employees.

Ford explained, as reported by WJBC, that when prospective employers access an applicant's social networking account, they may gain access to sensitive financial information and other personal details that should remain private.

"If legislators had to give their Twitter and Facebook account passwords how would they like that? They wouldn't like it. They wouldn't want to give their password to anyone because it's their personal password," Ford said.

The bill was criticized by state Rep. Jill Tracy (R-Quincy), Republican spokesperson of the state Labor Committee, as over-regulating businesses, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The measure will be the subject of a hearing Tuesday before the Labor Committee.

Reports emerged last year that some job applicants, including one individual who applied for a clerical position with a North Carolina police force, were asked for their passwords for any websites such as Facebook or Myspace as part of a background check their potential employers wanted to run, the Daily Mail reported.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland spoke out last year against the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services after they allegedly ordered an employee to hand over his Facebook password if he wanted to see his job reinstated. The ACLU called such a demand "a frightening and illegal invasion of privacy" and the department suspended the practice, according to The Atlantic.

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Comments

[dbrett480]

10:24 PM on 02/09/2012

Maybe not all jobs should ask for this, but there are some jobs that definitely should. People who work in law enforcement, teaching, medical services, etc. are given a very high level of responsibility and public trust. In order to make sure only the highest caliber of people work in these professions, seeing how they act online only makes sense.

[Hay30]

01:38 PM on 02/07/2012

Jill Tracy was on WGN this morning and I am convinced that she's completely off her rocker. I think she saw an opportunity to stand up for "the rights of businesses" in the hopes she'd get some attention or cash for her re-election coffers. She seriously thinks that anything posted on a social network is for public consumption - i.e. all the world can see it. No, ma'am. There are things called privacy controls that social networking users employ. Those privacy controls limit the availability of the information. She's helplessly misinformed.

I personally don't think any prospective or current employer has any right to ask for any password of mine. I'd have to do some research, but I'm pretty sure that violates TOS with social networks. Not only would the prospective/current employer have access to my information, but they would also have access to friend/acquaintance information. Those individuals are not applying for a position and their rights to privacy are being violated.

[LesKern]

07:28 AM on 02/07/2012

Of course not.
Why is this even a question?

[LangstonA]

08:07 PM on 02/06/2012

I would absolutely hand over my social media logins. The usernames I hand over would be for the profiles I specifically created to present my "professional" self to the public. I would not hand over passwords as that would allow someone to post something on my profile while pretending to be me.

[bitterqueen]

07:25 PM on 02/06/2012

Another day of job hunting and I thought I'd register for a few more temp agencies (not that it's done me any good in the past 8 months.)

Was registering for Snelling online and as part of their "Profile" they ask for:

Web Site URL
LinkedIn Username
Twitter Username
Facebook Username

First time I've come across that in 8 months of looking for a job.

Let's just say, I won't be filling out their registration form.

[Epilef2000]

07:21 PM on 02/06/2012

Human Resources and employers that depend on Facebook for hiring decisions reveals how irrelevant some hiring processes are.

[Sanders McGrillin]

04:06 PM on 02/06/2012

I'm 29, and I hate social media
it just seems to be a hassle, and I don't think that I should be required to take part in it to be considered for a job.
I grew up in the country, I do outside stuff if its nice out during my free time, and I just don't get anything from facebook, myspace, or google +. Its just mindless fodder.

[CultivateYMinds]

04:57 PM on 02/06/2012

I ditto that!! People act like you don't exist if you don't have one or like you are hiding something because you don't have an account.

[terry90]

06:34 PM on 02/06/2012

no, it's not required for you to HAVE an account in a social website, but if you do, apparently now employers can ask you for the info so they can see you page.. I think that's a GROSS violation of privacy, it's almost like saying they want to eavesdrop when you're sitting around at a dinner party or something chatting with your friends and acquaintances..

[Joseph Veverka]

03:56 PM on 02/06/2012

When your at work conventional wisdom says you should be working but I guest I'm old fashion capitalist. If you work for me I want access to the work you are doing while I'm paying you especially if you sales people.

[Hay30]

01:28 PM on 02/07/2012

The issue isn't whether someone's accessing social media during working hours. It's so the employers can use your passwords to access your profiles and snoop beyond what is necessary or legal in order to see if you are fit to hire.

[Joseph Veverka]

02:50 PM on 02/07/2012

I know jobs a scarce but if you feel so outraged by the request for you PW just so no. I feel is a very far reach but we live in extraordinary times. There has never been a social network and as witness around the world they are very dangerous when in the hands of someone bent on doing harm. There has been congressional rep who had lewd pictures of themselves on the profile. I think allowing an employer access by pw is wrong but certainly I would offer fully access by allowing them as a friend.

[MTY INDACHI]

01:07 PM on 02/09/2012

i wouldn't hire because you don't know the difference between your and you're among other things.

[MisteRational]

12:28 PM on 02/06/2012

Hell no. I am pretty sure sharing your PW to any site violates TOS anyway.

[MrOnePercent2012]

11:20 AM on 02/06/2012

I make all job applicants give me their FB info. It's the best way there is to see who that person truly is. I can also keep track of what they say once they've been hired.

[MisteRational]

12:26 PM on 02/06/2012

You have no right to that info. Do you provide them with yours? Oh, a one percenter..I see you probably don't feel workers have any rights and are your personal property.

[MillieNeon]

01:47 PM on 02/06/2012

I think, from his name, MrOnePercent2012 is making satirical remarks about how the one percent think.

[Joseph Veverka]

03:59 PM on 02/06/2012

That actually the definition of a 1%er. Bought and paid for every week, especially if your skills aren't very special.

[trumbull desi]

04:39 PM on 02/06/2012

You must have zero employees because there's no law requiring anybody to give you that kind of personal data. And nobody I know would provide it voluntarily.

[mater]

04:50 PM on 02/06/2012

No law at all.

[PizzaGuy1]

11:18 AM on 02/06/2012

This is completely wrong. One thing that I've not seen posted is this: Giving both password and username for a social media site to a prospective employer empowers that employer to POST ANYTHING ON YOUR SITE AS YOU. If the employer would like to reject you for any number of illegal reasons, all they have to do is to post something disqualifying on your facebook page, or tweet something disqualifying using your Twitter account. Then, they could reject your application, effectively "laundering" their discrimination against you. If you wind up giving your information to multiple employers, who is to say what you placed on your site, or tweeted, and what any number of unscrupulous employers may have added in your guise? Much worse than seeing your private details of the account, is the ability granted to impersonate you. How many people do we want to grant the ability to impersonate you, even for a short time? A possible benefit, minimal though it may be, is that the act of giving your account information to a SINGLE employer de-legitimizes any investigation of your social media life, as the "chain of evidence" is broken if someone else has possession of your secret passwords, and proof that YOU actually made tho statements in question would be impossible.

[MrOnePercent2012]

11:22 AM on 02/06/2012

You're all wet about this issue.

[PizzaGuy1]

01:38 PM on 02/06/2012

Not at all. As an IT consultant, this is sacrilege.

[Joseph Veverka]

04:03 PM on 02/06/2012

Why....? is he all wet.

[MillieNeon]

01:50 PM on 02/06/2012

Would never give my password to anything to any employer or prospective employer. And my photos, comments, info, etc. is hidden from all but a few close friends on FB. If they need access to my private life to employ me, then I won't work for them.

[terry90]

06:36 PM on 02/06/2012

EXACTLY...

[Kamereon]

11:10 AM on 02/06/2012

Good luck to them, I can't find anything on my page or anyone else's with this new timeline junk.

[Aldyth]

10:43 AM on 02/06/2012

I had no idea that employers were requesting passwords. That is absolutely appalling and absolutely wrong. Do they get to intercept my mail at home? Do they get to read my diary? This is Big Brother and MUST be made illegal.

[kcwookie]

10:31 AM on 02/06/2012

I just grabbed a full copy of the bill and will be forwarding it to my legislators. I recommend everyone do the same. This is just plain wrong.

[kcwookie]

10:23 AM on 02/06/2012

They should be able to look at your public sites, but giving them the passwords? Only in conservative America would that even be considered. This needs to be a federal law, of course conservatives would be against it since it is a government regulation that might impede business.

[ChristianCooper]

11:48 AM on 02/06/2012

Hey hey hey. Not all of us on the right side of the fence approve of this type of intrusion. Some of us do support liberty and its protection from government or any one else stomping on it.

[kcwookie]

01:39 PM on 02/06/2012

You may not have an issue with this, but the vast majority of conservatives don't espouse your view, or they won't stand and defend it. Maybe you need to start another conservative movement...maybe call it conservatives for sanity?