The House of Representatives in the US is considering a bill that, if passed, would make it illegal for businesses to ask staff for their social network passwords.
According to The Hill, the Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA) would outlaw the practice of organisations asking current or potential employees for passwords to social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
Organisations (including schools and universities) caught breaching the rules will face fines of up to $US10,000 per incident if the legislation is passed.
The news comes after Facebook changed its terms of service last month to prevent the practice following media reports of organisations asking job applicants for their Facebook passwords.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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