Oklahoma Prohibits Employer from Requesting or Requiring Access to Personal Social Media Accounts | Practical Law

Oklahoma Prohibits Employer from Requesting or Requiring Access to Personal Social Media Accounts | Practical Law

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin recently signed H.B. 2372, a new Oklahoma law prohibiting employers from requiring access to employees' personal online social media accounts and prohibiting retaliation against employees who fail to provide access to personal online social media accounts. H.B. 2372 becomes effective November 1, 2014.

Oklahoma Prohibits Employer from Requesting or Requiring Access to Personal Social Media Accounts

by Practical Law Labor & Employment
Published on 03 Jun 2014 • Oklahoma
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin recently signed H.B. 2372, a new Oklahoma law prohibiting employers from requiring access to employees' personal online social media accounts and prohibiting retaliation against employees who fail to provide access to personal online social media accounts. H.B. 2372 becomes effective November 1, 2014.
On May 21, 2014, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed H.B. 2372, a new Oklahoma law prohibiting employers from requiring access to employees' personal online social media accounts and prohibiting retaliation against employees who fail to provide access to personal online social media accounts.
Specifically, H.B. 2372 forbids any employer located in Oklahoma from:
  • Requiring an employee or prospective employee to:
    • disclose his log in information for accessing his personal online social media account; or
    • access his personal online social media account in the employer's presence to enable the employer to observe the contents.
  • Taking retaliatory personnel action that materially and negatively affects the terms and conditions of the employee's employment solely for his refusal to give the employer his user name or password to his personal online social media account.
  • Refusing to hire a prospective employee solely as a result of his refusal to give the employer his user name and password to his personal online social media account.
H.B. 2372 does not prohibit employers from:
  • Requesting or requiring an employee to disclose any user name and password for accessing any:
    • computer system, information technology network or electronic communications device that is employer-provided or subsidized; or
    • employer-provided accounts or services.
  • Inadvertently receiving an employee's log in information through the use of employer-provided devices or network monitoring programs, provided the employer does not use the information to access an employee's personal online social media account.
  • Conducting an investigation:
    • to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements or prohibitions against work-related employee misconduct based on the receipt of specific information about activity on a personal online social media account or service; or
    • of an employee's actions based on the receipt of specific information about the unauthorized transfer of proprietary or confidential information, or financial data to a personal online social media account or service.
H.B. 2372 does not prevent an employer from complying with existing state or federal laws, rules, regulations or common law.
An employer who violates H.B. 2372 may be subject to a civil action in the county where the alleged violation occurred in which the employee or prospective employee may seek:
  • Injunctive relief.
  • Damages of up to $500.
H.B. 2372 defines personal online social media account broadly to mean an online account used exclusively for personal communications established and used through an electronic application, service or platform used to generate or store content unavailable to the general public, including:
  • Videos.
  • Still photographs.
  • Blogs.
  • Video blogs.
  • Instant messages.
  • Audio recordings.
  • Email.
H.B. 2372 becomes effective November 1, 2014.