New Colorado Law Bars Employers from Requesting, Requiring or Causing Employees or Applicants to Disclose Social Media User Names or Passwords | Practical Law

New Colorado Law Bars Employers from Requesting, Requiring or Causing Employees or Applicants to Disclose Social Media User Names or Passwords | Practical Law

Colorado recently enacted House Bill 13-1046, which prohibits an employer from requesting, requiring or causing employees or applicants to disclose social media user names or passwords.

New Colorado Law Bars Employers from Requesting, Requiring or Causing Employees or Applicants to Disclose Social Media User Names or Passwords

by PLC Labor & Employment
Published on 15 May 2013 • Colorado
Colorado recently enacted House Bill 13-1046, which prohibits an employer from requesting, requiring or causing employees or applicants to disclose social media user names or passwords.
On May 11, 2013, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law House Bill 13-1046, which prohibits an employer from:
  • Suggesting, requesting, requiring or causing an employee or applicant to:
    • disclose any user name, password or other means for accessing the employee's or applicant's personal account or service through the employee's or applicant's personal electronic communications device; or
    • change privacy settings associated with a social networking account.
  • Compelling an employee or applicant to add anyone, including the employer or his agent, to the employee's or applicant's list of contacts associated with a social media account.
The Colorado law does not prohibit an employer from:
  • Requiring an employee to disclose any user name, password or other means for accessing non-personal accounts or services that provide access to the employer's internal computer or information systems.
  • Conducting an investigation to ensure compliance with applicable securities or financial law or regulatory requirements based on the receipt of information about the use of a personal website, internet website, web-based account, or similar account by an employee for business purposes.
  • Investigating an employee's electronic communications based on receipt of information about unauthorized downloading of proprietary information or financial data to a personal website, internet website, web-based account or similar account by an employee.
  • Enforcing existing workplace policies that do not conflict with the new law.
Colorado is the eighth state to enact a law prohibiting private employers from asking for access to social media accounts, joining Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico and Utah. For more information on state laws addressing employer access to current and prospective employees' social media accounts, see Practice Note, Employer Access to Social Media Accounts State Laws: Overview.