Proposed law protects private passwords

Associated Press

Updated: May 10, 2012 12:16 PM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Congressman Martin Heinrich is pushing legislation that would prohibit employers from forcing current or prospective employees to share passwords to their private accounts on sites like Facebook.

The Password Protection Act of 2012 was introduced Wednesday by Heinrich and fellow Democrat Ed Perlmutter of Colorado. A similar measure was introduced in the Senate.

Heinrich says that "employers demanding Facebook passwords or confidential information on other social networks is an egregious privacy violation and should be against the law." He notes that personal information like race, religion, age and sexual orientation is often accessible on social networking profiles.

The congressmen say the bill preserves employers' rights to set policies for how work computers are used.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Political Pulse

We welcome your thoughtful comments. Be the first to participate in the discussion. All comments will display your username and avatar.