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Connecticut Enacts Online Privacy Law Protecting Employees and Applicants
Practical Law Legal Update 1-614-1946 (Approx. 8 pages)
Connecticut Enacts Online Privacy Law Protecting Employees and Applicants
by Practical Law Labor & Employment
| Published on 22 May 2015 • Connecticut |
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy recently signed P.A. 15-6 into law, limiting an employer's access to the personal online accounts of its employees and prospective employees. The law will take effect on October 1, 2015.
On May 19, 2015, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed P.A. 15-6 into law, limiting an employer's access to the personal online accounts of its employees and prospective employees.
Under the law, an employer is prohibited from:
- Requesting or requiring employees or prospective employees to disclose usernames and passwords for their personal online accounts.
- Requesting or requiring employees or prospective employees to authenticate or access a personal online account in the employer's presence.
- Forcing employees or prospective employees to invite the employer or accept the employer's invitation to join a group related to the employee's personal online account.
- Disciplining, or threatening to discipline, any employee in retaliation for the employee's refusal to comply with a request that violates this law.
The new law defines personal online account as any online account used by an employee or prospective employee exclusively for personal purposes. The law does not:
- Include accounts created, maintained or used by the employee for business purposes.
- Prohibit an employer from requesting or requiring an employee to provide password or authentication information to:
- an account or service provided by the employer or that the employee uses for business; or
- electronic communications devices paid for or supplied by the employer.
The new law allows an employer (in an effort to ensure compliance with laws and regulations) to conduct an investigation based on its receipt of "specific information" concerning:
- Activity on an employee or prospective employee's personal online account.
- An employee or prospective employee's unauthorized transfer of the employer's proprietary, confidential or financial information to or from a personal online account.
For this investigation, an employer may require an employee or prospective employee to allow access to a personal online account if the employer does not require the individual to disclose account passwords or other authentication information.
The law does not prohibit the employer from:
- Reviewing, accessing or blocking data:
- stored on devices paid for by the employer; or
- that travels through or is stored on the employer's server.
- Taking adverse action against an employee or prospective employee who transfers the employer's proprietary, confidential or financial information to or from a personal online account without the employer's permission.
- Complying with laws, regulations or rules.
The law will become effective October 1, 2015, making Connecticut the 21st state to pass a law restricting employer access to personal online accounts.