Bill Text: MS HB165 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Social media privacy; prohibit employers from requiring employees to provide passwords.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB165 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-HB165-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representative Currie
House Bill 165
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT EMPLOYERS FROM OBTAINING PASSWORDS OR OTHER ACCOUNT INFORMATION TO GAIN ACCESS TO SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES OF EMPLOYEES AND PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) It shall be unlawful for any employer to request or require any employee or prospective employee to provide any password or other related account information in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a social networking website or to demand access in any manner to an employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a social networking website.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall limit an employer's right to:
(a) Promulgate and maintain lawful workplace policies governing the use of the employer's electronic equipment, including policies regarding Internet use, social networking site use, and electronic mail use; and
(b) Monitor usage of the employer's electronic equipment and the employer's electronic mail without requesting or requiring any employee or prospective employee to provide any password or other related account information in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a social networking website.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer from obtaining information about an employee or a prospective employee that is in the public domain or that is otherwise obtained in compliance with this section.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "social networking website" means an Internet-based service that allows individuals to:
(a) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, created by the service;
(b) Create a list of other users with whom they share a connection within the system; and
(c) View and navigate their list of connections and those made by others within the system. "Social networking website" shall not include electronic mail.
(5) Any employer violating this section shall be subject to a civil fine of up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) and an aggrieved employee shall have a civil cause of action against such employer.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.
