... a growing number of jurisdictions are passing privacy laws to protect people from such intrusions.
New Jersey Enacts a Social Media
Privacy Law
The Garden State joined a
growing list of jurisdictions intent on regulating employers’ monitoring of their
workers’ social media activities. Signed
by Governor Chris Christie in mid-September, and taking effect on December 1st,
the law’s main points are:
- Employers may require their employees to disclose passwords that
apply to accounts maintained for business purposes.
- Employers may also insist on getting passwords for specified
categories of internal investigations.
- But employers cannot require prospective or current employees to
disclose online user names and passwords outside these exceptions.
- Employee complaints will be directed to the Department of Labor and
Workforce Development. Violators
can be fined from $1000 to $2500.
[Gary
S. Young, “Governor Christie Signs NJ Media Protections into Law,” Scarinci Hollenbeck Attorneys at Law, September
11, 2013, accessed at http://www.businesslawnews.com/governor-christie-signs-nj-social-media-protections-into-law/]
Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton
has commented on the new statute, “Although
the statutory remedies are limited, it remains to be seen whether the New
Jersey courts will recognize a common-law cause of action with much broader
remedies for employees who are fired for refusing to provide access to personal
social media accounts. New Jersey, like many other states, recognizes a
common-law cause of action for wrongful termination in violation of “a clear
mandate of public policy” and provides broad remedies for employees terminated
in violation of a public policy expressed in a statute or regulation. Employees
fired for refusing to provide access to their personal accounts in violation of
this statute may well argue that the termination violates a clear mandate of
public policy.” [DelDuca & Barrueco, “New jersey’s New Social Media Privacy
Law: Balancing Employee Rights and Employer Protections,” Pepper Hamilton LLP, September 6, 2013, accessed at http://www.pepperlaw.com/publications_update.aspx?ArticleKey=2743]
The
11 other states with similar laws are:
1. Arkansas
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Illinois
5. Maryland
6. Michigan
7. New Mexico
8. Oregon
9. Utah
10. Nevada
11. Washington
No comments:
Post a Comment