New Arkansas Law Bars Employers from Requiring or Requesting Current or Prospective Employees to Disclose Social Media Usernames or Passwords | Practical Law

New Arkansas Law Bars Employers from Requiring or Requesting Current or Prospective Employees to Disclose Social Media Usernames or Passwords | Practical Law

Arkansas recently enacted Act 1480, which prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting a current or prospective employee to disclose his username or password for a social media account.

New Arkansas Law Bars Employers from Requiring or Requesting Current or Prospective Employees to Disclose Social Media Usernames or Passwords

by PLC Labor & Employment
Published on 25 Apr 2013 • USA (National/Federal)
Arkansas recently enacted Act 1480, which prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting a current or prospective employee to disclose his username or password for a social media account.
On April 22, 2013, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe signed into law Act 1480, which prohibits an employer from requesting, requiring, suggesting or causing current or prospective employees to:
  • Disclose their social media account usernames and passwords.
  • Add employees or supervisors to their social media contacts.
  • Change privacy settings.
Employers are not liable under the Act if they inadvertently receive this information, but they cannot use it to access the employee's social media account. In addition, employers are entitled to obtain this information if it is reasonably believed to be relevant to a formal investigation of allegations of the employee's breach of federal, state or local laws or the employer's written policies.
Further, the Act does not regulate social media accounts that were:
  • Opened by employees at their employer's request.
  • Provided to an employee by an employer.
  • Set up on behalf of an employer.
  • Set up to impersonate an employer.
Arkansas is the seventh state to enact a law prohibiting private employers from asking for access to social media accounts, joining 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.