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California AB 1844 and the Role of Social Media in the Employment Process

Posted By Pedro A. Avila, Jan 29, 2013

On January 1, 2013, California passed AB 1844 prohibiting employers from asking a prospective or current employee for his or her password to a private social media account. The bill also prohibits employers from retaliating against any prospective or current employee who refuses to provide those passwords. In passing the bill, California joined Illinois, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, and Maryland in creating legal guidelines for social media privacy in the workplace.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos authored AB 1844 to prevent employers from inappropriately accessing a prospective or current employee’s private social-media accounts. In a statement on the State Assembly’s website, Campos stated that employers are likely to create biases from the private information a current or prospective employee had on their social media account. Campos saw this bill as a “preemptive measure” that provides firm guidelines to employers regarding the accessibility of private information.

AB 1844, however, does not resolve the issue of an employer finding public information about a current or prospective employee on a social-media site. Currently, employers can use services like Google to find public information about a current or prospective employee without needing authorization. Employers can also “friend” a current or prospective employee and learn information in that manner as well. The employer is free to do with the information learned, but cannot act on that information in a way that violates federal law (e.g. discriminate against employees due to their religion, familial status, or race, etc.).

Thus, while it appears that AB 1844 tilts the scales in favor of employees’ rights, employers can skirt around AB 1844 through the two aforementioned methods. Employees, therefore, must guard what information they make public and whom they friend on social media sites. While AB 1844 is a good step towards ensuring employee privacy, prudence is still the most effective way to ensure that employers do not learn private employee information.

Source (CNet):http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57561743-93/six-states-outlaw-employer-snooping-on-facebook/

Source (CNet): http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57521984-93/calif-law-passed-to-halt-employer-snooping-on-social-media/

Source (CNet): http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57432298-93/progress-for-calif-bill-to-stop-employers-social-media-snooping/

Source (CNet): http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57521984-93/calif-law-passed-to-halt-employer-snooping-on-social-media/

Source (CNet): http://www.examiner.com/article/california-ab-1844-prohibits-employers-from-demanding-social-media-passwords

Source (CA.Gov): http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17759