Lawmakers: Ban Employers from Prying into Personal Accounts

DAYTON – For the second year in a row, some Ohio lawmakers want to ban employers from asking for personal passwords to private email and social media accounts.

“I don’t want to see employers or government or medical establishment requiring that people disclose personal information, it should be up to the employee if he or she wants to do that,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, (D) Ohio.

A similar bill was proposed last year but failed to pass.  This issue sparks some much-needed debate in our digital age, says University of Dayton professor Arthur Jipson.

“Does an employer have the right to compel, to demand an employee turn that over, now that’s a really interesting issue,” said Arthur Jipson, Ph.D.

Jipsen says, depending on the nature of employment, a deeper level of scrutiny should be expected.

“Someone who applies to the police academy is expected to provide all of that information as a part of the application process,” said Jipson.

However, for jobs not needing intense background checks, Jipson says employers should keep their employees' personal lives personal, and this bill, if passed, would ensure that happens.  Some local residents agree.

“If you’re working at McDonald’s or K-Mart or something it doesn’t make any sense for that,” said Chantel Williams, a Dayton resident.

While the bill would ban access, employers can still monitor what employees post publicly, which can tell them a lot.

“If you were drunk last night and you posted about that on Facebook, I know about that,” said Jipson.