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Home » Accessing Employee Social Media Accounts a No-No in Connecticut

Accessing Employee Social Media Accounts a No-No in Connecticut

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By Daniel Schwartz on December 9, 2015
Posted in Data Privacy, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource Center, Social Media

shrmprogramWe’ve got nearly a sold-out crowd for this Friday’s joint program on Data Privacy and Noteworthy Human Resources Issues produced by my firm, Shipman & Goodwin, and the Connecticut chapter of SHRM. I’ll be moderating the morning session and also putting on one of the programs.

In my hour-long talk, I’ll touch on some of the key developments over the last year and some predictions for 2016.

Among the topics: Connecticut’s new law protecting employee online privacy and social media accounts.

I recapped the new law back in May, but since then, the law has gone into effect and we’ve started encouraging employers to review their employee handbooks to reference this law.

A few things to keep in mind:

What Does The Bill Do Generally? 

This bill prohibits employers from requesting or requiring an employee or job applicant to (1) provide the employer with a user name, password, or other way to access the employee’s or applicant’s personal online account (see below); (2) authenticate or access such an account in front of the employer; or (3) invite, or accept an invitation from, the employer to join a group affiliated with such an account.

What Are Employers Prohibited from Doing?

1. firing, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee who (a) refuses to provide this access or (b) files a complaint with a public or private body or court about the employer’s request for access or retaliation for refusing such access and

2. refusing to hire an applicant because the applicant would not provide access to his or her personal online account.

What Is Meant By A “Personal Online Account”?

[It’s an] online account the employee or applicant uses exclusively for personal purposes unrelated to any of the employer’s business purposes, including e-mail, social media, and retail-based Internet web sites.

But there’s obviously even more to the law. For that, you’ll just have to attend Friday’s session. You can still sign up for the webinar piece here.

Tags: connecticut, data privacy, employee online account, employee privacy, law, online privacy, password, personal online account, shoulder surfing, social media
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Photo of Daniel Schwartz Daniel Schwartz

Dan represents employers in various employment law matters such as employment discrimination, restrictive covenants, human resources, retaliation and whistle blowing, and wage and hour issues. He has extensive trial and litigation experience in both federal and state courts in a variety of areas…

Dan represents employers in various employment law matters such as employment discrimination, restrictive covenants, human resources, retaliation and whistle blowing, and wage and hour issues. He has extensive trial and litigation experience in both federal and state courts in a variety of areas, including commercial litigation and trade secret enforcement. Dan is the author of the independent Connecticut Employment Law Blog. The blog discusses new and noteworthy events in labor and employment law on a daily basis.

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About Connecticut Employment Law Blog

Daniel A. Schwartz created the Connecticut Employment Law Blog in 2007 with the goal of sharing new and noteworthy items relating to employment law with employers, human resources personnel, and executives in Connecticut. Since then, the blog has been recognized by the ABA Journal, and was one of ten named to the “Blog Hall of Fame” in recognition of the blog’s contributions and consistency over the years.
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