Thanks to a reminder from the Wisconsin State Law Library, here is some information about social media protections available in Wisconsin since 10 April 2014 with the passage of SB223 as 2013 Wisconsin Act 208. A legislative council memorandum has the full description of this law.
Recall that around 2011 and 2012, media stories appeared about employers demanding job applicants to disclose passwords to Facebook accounts. While such demands are legal folly, at the time there was nothing explicitly illegal about them. This 2013 act explicitly makes such demands to reveal passwords illegal.
Under this law, an employer, educational institution, or landlord may not ask for or demand an employee, student, tenant, or applicant to reveal personal information associated with an Internet account of some kind, like the passwords or lock codes for a personal e-mail address, a personal cell or smart phone, or a personal Facebook account. Likewise, an employer, educational institutional, or landlord cannot discipline, discharge, expel, or refuse to rent to an employee, student, tenant, or applicant for refusing to disclose such information or who opposes such disclosure.
Employers and educational institutions can request and even demand access to Internet accounts connected to that employer or educational institution, however. Likewise, restrictions on which web sites can be visited and the monitoring of Internet access are available to employers and educational institutions on the networks and equipment they provide. And certainly, information in the public domain — i.e., available without use of a password or pass code associated with the account — is available to the employer, land lord, or educational institution without consequence to them.
Finally, if a personal Internet account or device could reasonably be believed to have information relating to an alleged unauthorized transfer of proprietary or confidential information, company financial data, other employment-related misconduct, any violation of the law, or any violation of the employer’s work rules as specified in an employee handbook, then the employer may, in the course of an investigation into these allegations, require an employee to grant access or allow observation of a personal Internet account or device. Even in this case, however, the employer may not demand the employee reveal the password or lock code associated with the personal Internet account or device.
If an employee, student, tenant, or applicant believes that a violation of this law has occurred, he or she can file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Rights Division of the Department of Workforce Development. In the employment context, the employee or job applicant would be entitled to back pay and reinstatement. In addition, criminal forfeiture penalties of up to $1,000 may also be charged pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 995.55 for violations of this act.
So, Wisconsin joins other states in making demands for Facebook passwords illegal.
Wisconsin Unemployment 