BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1844
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1844 (Campos)
As Amended April 26, 2012
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 10-0 LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 7-0
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins, |Ayes:|Swanson, Morrell, Alejo, |
| |Dickinson, Gorell, Huber, | |Allen, Torres, Gorell, |
| |Jones, Monning, | |Yamada |
| |Wieckowski, Alejo | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Prohibits employers from requiring employees or
prospective employees to disclose a user name or account
password to access a personal social media account that is
exclusively used by the employee or prospective employee.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to make clear that employers may not
require employees or prospective employees to provide them with
the "keys" (their private usernames and passwords) to their
personal social media accounts such as Facebook.
In support of the measure the author states, "Because privacy
laws have yet to be applied in any meaningful fashion to
employers in the social media context, AB 1844 simply makes
clear that employees have a right to privacy in their social
media."
As the Los Angeles Times recently noted, social media users have
been told for years to be careful what is publicly available on
the Internet ("A Social Media Trend We Don't 'Like'" Los Angeles
Times, March 28, 2012). Since social media sites like Facebook
and Twitter have become widely accessible to employers and
others, hundreds of thousands of users have used the security
settings currently offered by some social media sites to limit
certain access to their personal information by third parties
other than the social media site and its business partners. The
Los Angeles Times article pointedly notes that personal social
media profiles frequently provide information about the social
AB 1844
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media user's sexual orientation, religion, ethnic background,
age and marital status -- all information employers cannot
require employees to disclose. This bill, by prohibiting
employers from obtaining social media passwords, appropriately
makes clear that employers may not use the "back door" to obtain
information they are otherwise prohibited from obtaining.
Currently, employers can screen numerous aspects of a
prospective employee's background. Existing law permits
employers to screen employee's credit history, past civil
liabilities, criminal records and run a full background check on
prospective employees. Additionally, employers can access all
public aspects of a prospective employee's social media
accounts. This bill will not limit access to these public areas
of an employee's or prospective employee's account. The burden
remains on the individual social media user to limit access to
one's own social media profile and other content.
Though there have been some recent press reports about employers
reportedly requesting the social media usernames and passwords
of prospective employees, it is not yet clear to what degree
this is yet a significant issue. The most widely known case of
employers seeking private social media user names and passwords
reportedly involved the Maryland Division of Correction and
applicants for prison guard positions. In response to this
situation, Maryland passed the first-in-the-nation law banning
employers from demanding social media passwords and usernames.
In addition, a growing number of states including Illinois and
Texas also have social media password bills proceeding through
their legislatures.
In support of the bill the State Building and Construction Trade
Council of California notes:
In this age of electronic correspondence and social media
more and more of a person's personal life is online.
Social media websites are the next frontier in "personal
space" and indeed are a safe and effective way to not
only store personal information but to also make it
easier to stay in touch with friends and family. Email
and social media are the next progression in
interpersonal relationships and should be viewed as being
no different than previous generation's personal
correspondence, photo albums and address books.
AB 1844
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The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
adds in support of the measure that "AB 1844 simply makes clear
that prospective employees have a right to privacy in their
personal social media." Consumer Action states the bill
protects privacy by preventing employers from accessing
information they would be otherwise prohibited from seeing
outside of social media noting, "although it would be illegal to
question a job applicant about her age, sexual orientation, or
whether she was planning to have a child in the near future,
answers to these questions can usually be found on the
applicant's social networking page."
In calling this bill a "job creator" the California Chamber of
Commerce, along with other business groups, applaud the bill for
clarifying an employer's responsibility with regards to
prospective employee's social media, while the Civil Justice
association notes the bill adds clarity in a "complex and
evolving arena."
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert and Nicholas Liedtke /
JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0003469