Bill banning employer Facebook snooping introduced
Two members of Congress have introduced a bill that would ban the practice of requiring job applicants, employees or students to provide their social networking information.
The Social Networking Online Protection Act, authored by Congressman Eliot Engel of New York and sponsored by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, is in response to a growing number of reports of employers demanding their employees’ Facebook passwords as a condition of employment.
The bill seeks to block any employer from requiring current or potential employees to turn over login credentials to any person; online content can not be used as a condition of employment to "discriminate or deny employment to individuals, nor punish them for refusing to volunteer the information." The bill would apply the same prohibitions to colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. Similar legislation being written by Senators Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Chuck Schumer (New York), is expected to be introduced in the Senate later this year.
