Prohibits an employer or educational institution from requesting or requiring that an employee, applicant or student disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing a personal account or service through specified electronic communications devices.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4388
SPONSOR: Dinowitz (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law and the education law, in relation to
prohibiting an employer or educational institution from requesting or
requiring that an employee, applicant or student disclose any user name,
password, or other means for accessing a personal account or service
through specified electronic communications devices
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would prohibit employers and educational institutions from
requesting or requiring user name and login information including pass-
words as a condition of hiring, employment status, for use in discipli-
nary actions, as well as admission decision or enrollment status.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the labor law by adding a new section, 201-g that would
prohibit employers from requesting or requiring access to personal elec-
tronic communication accounts of prospective or current employees. This
section also allows for specific exemptions to the law when employers
would be allowed to request the information.
Section 2 amends the labor law by adding a new section 115 which would
prohibit educational institutions as defined by the section, from
requesting or requiring access to personal electronic communication
accounts of prospective of current students. This section also allows
for specific exemptions to the law when educational institutions would
be allowed to request the information.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Employers and educational institutions, universities in particular, are
beginning to use various types of new tools in decisions dealing with
the hiring, admittance and acceptance, and disciplinary actions regard-
ing prospective and current employees and students. Recently, there have
been reports of employers demanding login information, including user-
name and password information to popular social media websites such as
Facebook, Twitter as well as login information to email accounts and
other extremely personal accounts. This information is being used as a
condition of hiring or acceptance to a college, as well as promotions,
lateral movement within companies and in matters relating to discipli-
nary action including, but not limited to, firing of individuals.
This type of request can lead to issues of unfair and discriminatory
hiring and admissions practices and constitutes a serious invasion of
privacy on the behalf of the employer or school. Employees have the
right to make this information either public or private through the
websites and they should have every right to maintain this privacy when
it comes their work place, classroom, or during an interview or admis-
sions process. In these economic times many people do not have the
option to walk away from a job and are forced to submit to this request
for fear they will not be hired otherwise. This bill would remedy this
issue and leave consumers with their right to privacy and reduce the
risk of unfair and discriminatory hiring and admissions practices.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2013-14- A.443-D- Passed Assembly/S.2434-D- Advanced to Third Reading
Cal.
2011-12- A.9654- Passed Assembly/S.6831- Referred to Labor
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become
law.
