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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins, |Ayes:|Swanson, Morrell, Alejo, | | |Dickinson, Gorell, Huber, | |Allen, Torres, Gorell, | | |Jones, Monning, | |Yamada | | |Wieckowski, Alejo | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Page 2 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 Page 3 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