Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
August 15, 2012 

On August 1, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law making it illegal for an employer to request a job candidate’s or employee’s social network account information to gain access to his or her profile. Maryland enacted a similar law in May.  

However, the law—which will take effect on January 1, 2013—does not prevent employers from viewing information that isn’t restricted by privacy settings on a website. Employers are also free to set workplace policies on the use of the Internet, social networking sites, and e-mail. 

Maryland enacted a similar law in May. Several other states—such Delaware, New Jersey, and Washington—are considering similar bans.  

(Note: Requiring job candidates to provide logins/passwords as part of the recruiting process violates the NACE Principles for Professional Practice.)