Employees based in the U.S. could soon be required to provide potential and current employers with passwords to access their social media networking sites like Facebook.
Before the House of Representatives was to vote on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) last week, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) proposed a last-minute amendment that would ban employers — whether current or prospective — from asking for employees’ social media passwords. The addition of that amendment was defeated in the Republican-controlled House in a vote that saw 224 against and 189 in support.
“This is a very simple amendment that really does two things,” Perlmutter said before the vote took place. “It helps the individual protect his right to privacy and it doesn’t allow the employer to impersonate that particular employee when other people are interacting with that person across social media platforms.”
CISPA sponsor Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said the proposal was an attempt to kill the controversial bill, and suggested Perlmutter create separate legislation addressing employee privacy issues.
Perlmutter’s social media privacy provision may have come at the last minute, but it’s not the first time he’s introduced this type of measure. Last year he tried to add similar provisions to the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012, as well as last year’s version of CISPA
Neither of those bills passed the Senate. The Password Protection Act 2012 bill also failed to pass.
In 2011, Perlmutter explained why password privacy legislation was important:
“People have an expectation of privacy when using social media like Facebook and Twitter. They have an expectation that their right to free speech and religion will be respected when they use social media outlets.
“No American should have to provide their confidential personal passwords as a condition of employment. Both users of social media and those who correspond share the expectation of privacy in their personal communications. Employers essentially can act as impostors and assume the identity of an employee and continually access, monitor and even manipulate an employee’s personal social activities and opinions. That’s simply a step too far.”
As a result of last week’s vote, some Internet activists are worried that handing over passwords could soon become a legal condition of acquiring or keeping a job — and that the U.S. is on the path to legally-justified social media spying.