What's happening
This bill prohibits employers in New York from requiring job applicants or employees to provide access to their personal social media accounts, with certain exceptions for misconduct investigations.
Why it matters
Expands privacy protections for job seekers and employees. This bill prevents employers from demanding access to personal social media accounts, which can include private messages, friend lists, or other sensitive information not intended for workplace scrutiny.
Covers a broad range of employers. The law would apply not only to private companies but also to government entities, recruiters, and employment agencies, ensuring that nearly all employment relationships in New York are included.
Limits employer investigations to specific circumstances. While generally prohibiting access demands, the bill allows exceptions only when there is a reasonable belief that a social media account holds evidence relevant to employee misconduct or legal violations—balancing privacy with legitimate workplace investigations.
Establishes meaningful penalties for noncompliance. Employers violating these provisions could face significant fines, with repeat offenders subject to even higher penalties, providing a financial deterrent against infringing on employee digital privacy.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Social Media Snooping
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to labor
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10591
IN ASSEMBLY
June 5, 2020
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. L. Rosenthal) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting employers from requiring access to social media accounts of applicants and current employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 201-h to read as follows:
§ 201-h. Social media inquiries by employers prohibited. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
a. "Employer" shall include but not be limited to any person, corporation, limited liability company, association, labor organization, or entity employing any individual in any occupation, industry, trade, business or service, or any agent thereof. For the purposes of this section, the term "employer" shall also include the state, any political subdivision thereof, any public authority or any other governmental entity or instrumentality thereof, and any person, corporation, limited liability company, association or entity acting as an employment agent, recruiter, or otherwise connecting applicants with employers.
b. "Social media account" shall mean an account for an internet-based service that allows individuals to: (i) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, created by the service; (ii) create a list of other users with whom they share a connection within the system; (iii) view and navigate their list of connections and those made by others within the system; and (iv) participate in online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content.
2. No employer shall, orally or in writing, seek, request, or require an applicant or current employee to disclose information related to their personal social media account or accounts, including but not limited to, usernames, passwords, or the contents of such social media accounts.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16444-01-0
A. 10591 2
3. No employer shall, orally or in writing, seek, request, or require an applicant or current employee to provide the employer access to a social media account, including but not limited to, requiring an applicant or current employee to open a social media account and show the contents of such account to an employer.
4. The requirements of subdivisions two and three of this section shall not apply to employers when it is reasonable to believe that an applicant or current employee's social media account contains information which is related to an employee misconduct investigation or any violation of law.
5. A violation of this section shall subject the offender to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for the first violation and up to five thousand dollars for any subsequent violation.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.