Labor & Employment Law, Communications & Media Law, Privacy

Hey Employers: Employee Social Media Passwords are (Mostly) None of Your Business (Not that You’ve Been Inquiring)

by Adam S. Forman, David G. King | Miller Canfield on 5/17/2013

“Likes,” “tweets,” “hashtags,” and “wall posts” are all words that have quickly entered our lexicon through the continuing explosion of growth that is social media....more

Whose Social Media Account Is It, Anyway?

by Odia Kagan | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 5/16/2013

A detailed social media policy specifically addressing the ownership of social media accounts is key to a corporation’s ability to maintain ownership of an employee’s account after the employee leaves the corporation....more

Busy at Work: California Legislature Addressing Data Privacy Concerns with Data Privacy Law

by Lisa Kim, Joshua Marker, Sarah Woo | Reed Smith on 5/15/2013

The California legislature is busily at work, staying at the forefront with the development of data privacy laws. More than 15 bills related to data privacy concerns are currently making their way through the legislature, and...more

Legislative Update: Social Media Account Protection and Paid FMLA?

by Daniel A. Schwartz | Pullman & Comley, LLC on 5/14/2013

With just a few weeks left in what has turned out to be a very unpredictable legislative session in Connecticut, there are still several bills up for consideration that employers need to be on the look out for. ...more

NJ Gov. Vetoes Employer Facebook Password Request Ban

by Aaron Kase | Lawyers.com on 5/10/2013

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday vetoed a law passed by the legislature that would ban employers from asking for the social media passwords of workers and applicants. Christie said that he would sign the bill if it...more

New Jersey’s Social Networking Privacy Law Gets Conditional Veto by Gov. Christie

by Mark Diana, Christopher Elko, Evan J. Shenkman | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/8/2013

On April 5, 2013, Governor Chris Christie issued a conditional veto of New Jersey’s proposed “Facebook law” (A-2878), which is intended to prohibit employers from inquiring about or otherwise accessing applicants’ and...more

It's 2013. Do You Know Where Your BYOD Policies Are?

by David Johnson, Joshua B. Konvisser | Pillsbury Global Sourcing Practice on 5/7/2013

Imagine you grab your phone only to find it locked, with all of your applications, pictures, and contacts permanently deleted. Imagine your employer's IT department remote-wiped your phone because they mistakenly believed it...more

Utah Employment Law Letter - May 2013: Legislation: Utah’s new privacy law: Don’t ask employees for their passwords

by Kirton McConkie PC on 5/7/2013

Utah lawmakers recently passed the Internet Employment Privacy Act (IEPA), joining at least six other states in prohibiting employers from requiring employees or job applicants to disclose their passwords or user names for...more

Who Owns an Employee’s LinkedIn Account?

by John Martin | Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/6/2013

LinkedIn is a social media site catering exclusively to professionals with 200 million registered users in 200 countries. For many businesses, marketing via social media is a critical component to success. Employees use...more

Workplace Policy Institute: Social Media Password Protection and Privacy — The Patchwork of State Laws and How It Affects...

by Philip Gordon, William Simmons, Amber Spataro | Littler on 5/3/2013

Introduction - Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others have become a part of daily life in the United States and abroad. The unavoidable reach of social media into our personal lives has...more

Monitoring and Recording Telephone Calls in the United Kingdom

by Richard Frase, Renzo Marchini, Charles Wynn-Evans | Dechert LLP on 5/2/2013

It is widely (and incorrectly!) believed that it is unlawful in the UK in any circumstances to monitor and record telephone calls without drawing this to the attention of the parties to the call. There are in fact broad...more

Texas Leg Watch 2013: Banning Employers From Demanding Social Media Passwords Bill To Hit House Floor Tomorrow

by Travis Crabtree | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 4/30/2013

As part of our continuing coverage of the Texas Legislature Watch (they only meet every other year in Texas), we look at the bill that would prohibit employers from demanding passwords or other access to the social media...more

Three More States Hop on the Social Media Legislation Bandwagon

by Allison Riechert Giese, Jessica Perry, Devin Slack | Orrick - Global Employment Law Group on 4/30/2013

Act 1480, signed by Governor Mike Beebe on April 22, 2013, prohibits an Arkansas employer from requiring or requesting a current or prospective employee to (1) disclose his or her username or password for a personal social...more

AP Hack Demonstrates the Power of 140 Characters #Twitter

by Donna Ray Berkelhammer | Sands Anderson PC on 4/30/2013

Many small and medium business owners are overwhelmed by the social media choices available to them, and unsure of which might best fit their target clients and markets. Twitter, being a relative new kid on the block, can be...more

Utah Enacts Internet Employment Privacy Law

by Beth P. Zoller | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 4/25/2013

Utah has joined California, Illinois, Maryland and Michigan in enacting legislation to protect the online privacy of employees and/or job applicants....more

Arkansas Latest State to Restrict Employer Access to Applicant and Employee Personal Social Media Accounts

by Katharine Parker, Daniel Saperstein | Proskauer Rose LLP on 4/24/2013

On April 22, 2013, Arkansas' governor signed H.B. 1901, continuing the national momentum to prohibit employers from requesting or requiring prospective and current employees to disclose their username and password to their...more

New Mexico Passes Social Media Privacy Act

by Beth P. Zoller | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 4/24/2013

New Mexico has joined California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan and Utah in enacting legislation to protect the online privacy of job applicants....more

Advertising Law -- Apr 18, 2013

by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 4/18/2013

In This Issue: No Rest for the NAD, As it Decides Multiple Mattress Disputes; Fur Sure? Retailers Make Faux Faux Fur Claims; Got Settlement? Muscle Milk Suit Settles for $5.3 Million; TCPA Class Actions Prohibited in New...more

Fenwick Employment Brief: Employee Social Media Account Ownership Still Uncertain

by Sheeva J. Ghassemi-Vanni, Daniel J. McCoy | Fenwick & West LLP on 4/18/2013

Who owns an employee's social media account when it is used to promote the employer's business? This is a hot-button topic and developing area of employment law, and a Pennsylvania federal court recently shed more light on...more

Workplace Issues Now Grow on “Vines”; Why Employers Need a Policy More Than Ever

by Daniel A. Schwartz | Pullman & Comley, LLC on 4/16/2013

As I said in an earlier post, I’ll be speaking about Social Media and the Workplace, as part of WESFACCA’s “Day of Privacy” presentation later this week. ...more

New Mexico Prohibits Employers from Requesting or Requiring Access to Prospective Employee Social Networking Accounts

by Katharine Parker, Daniel Saperstein | Proskauer Rose LLP on 4/11/2013

On April 5, 2013, New Mexico's governor made it unlawful for an employer to: - request or require that a prospective employee divulge a password allowing access to his or her account or profile on a social networking...more

Personal Smartphones: A Ticking HIPAA/HITECH Time Bomb?

by Cory Fox | BakerHostetler on 4/10/2013

In this brave new world of health information privacy, many industry experts and healthcare organizations have emphasized the need to secure portable electronic devices such as laptops, issued to employees. But a recently...more

Cyberattacks a mounting challenge for employers

by Paul Cowie, Dorna Moini | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/10/2013

In a recent panel discussion, one of the speakers was a so-called "ethical hacker" - a hacker-turned-protector of employers' confidential information. As someone at the forefront of cyberattacks, the ethical hacker's opinion...more

BB&K Police Chief Bulletin: Public Records - Public Records Act May Require Disclosure of Content Stored on Personal Devices of...

by Paul A. Cappitelli, G. Ross Trindle III | Best Best & Krieger LLP on 4/9/2013

Overview: A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge recently ruled that the California Public Records Act (PRA) required government agencies to disclose communications relayed through the privately-owned personal devices of...more

Feeling Cyber-Secure: Avoiding The Devastating Hacker

by Michael Schmidt | Cozen O'Connor on 4/8/2013

Pro-actively drafting cybersecurity policies and protocols is like doing a will for yourself, or an employee manual for your company. The thought process is that there is nothing imminently pressing that requires me to think...more

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Labor & Employment Law › Communications & Media Law › Privacy