Banning Social Media Spying in Sacramento

Lawmakers focus on protecting job applicants from nosey employers

It's a common enough warning to young people that is too often ignored. Beware of what you post on Facebook or other similar sites, because potential employers may be interested.

In other words, those pictures of wild partying could well come back to haunt you. It may be impossible to legislate common sense, but now Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, is drafting a bill that would keep employers from seeking passwords and usernames from workers and those seeking work.

Yee says demanding entry into a person's digital space is an invasion of privacy and has no bearing on work performance. Employers are likely to see it differently. Posts and pictures may well give them a sense of what kind of judgment, or lack thereof, the job applicant has.

It's an issue that's going to become more prominent with the spread of social media. Yee is just the latest lawmaker to express interest in a measure that would protect the careless or reckless from themselves. His bill is still in draft form.

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