Question

More and more companies are requiring their employees to provide access to all of the employee's social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, etc. Some employers are going as far as to require employees to provide user names and passwords for each account. Do you feel that an employer has a justified reason for asking for access to an employee's social media accounts? Why or why not? Should employees be required to provide user names and passwords?

Answer 1

Some employers states that access to personal accounts is required to protect proprietary information or trade secrets. It is to comply with federal financial regulations and to prevent the employer from legal liabilities on behalf of the employees activities. But others consider requiring access to the employees' personal accounts is against employee privacy.

The laws in nearly half of the states in U.S prohibit employers from asking applicants and employees for their social media login credentials. It also prohibits visiting their social media pages in the employer’s presence, changing their privacy settings to provide access to the employer etc. These laws are not applicable if the social media or online accounts are provided by the employer or used for the employer’s business or job purposes.

However employees need not to provide user names and passwords because it is against the privacy policy. Moreover there is a chance for the misuse of their social media accounts. So they should not disclose account credentials.