Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
Weeks after Wisconsin and Tennessee enacted their own legislation aimed at restricting access by employers to applicants’ and employees’ personal online content, Oklahoma and Louisiana have followed suit, further complicating the patchwork of state password protection laws already in place.
On May 21, 2014, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed H.B. 2372, making Oklahoma the fifteenth state to impose restrictions on employers’ access to the personal social media content of applicants and employees. Two days later, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act (H.B. 340), which prohibits employers and public and private educational institutions from requiring applicants, employees, and students to provide access to their personal online accounts.
Both laws have many of the same elements as laws previously enacted in other states, and are substantially similar to each other. At the same time, each law has some unique and noteworthy features. To ensure compliance, employers with operations in Oklahoma or Louisiana should understand the requirements of each law. Oklahoma’s new law becomes effective on November 1, 2014. Louisiana’s new law becomes effective on August 1, 2014. Continue reading this article here.