On August 1, 2012, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a new law that will make it unlawful for employers to ask job applicants and current employees to provide passwords or log-in information for their social networking websites. Under the law, employers will be prohibited from obtaining any information about a prospective or current employee that is not in the public domain.
Amendment to the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act
The new law, HB 3782, will amend the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (820 ILCS §§ 55/1 et seq.) which previously prohibited employers from requesting that prospective or current employees provide information such as their off-duty use of lawful products or claims for benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act or Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act.
Under the amended Act, which will go into effect on January 1, 2013, employers will further be prohibited from requesting that prospective or current employees provide the employer with the following information: