After gaining prominence in 2012, state legislation restricting access to personal social media accounts by employers and schools has remained active. Three more states have enacted their own restrictions thus far in 2013, and bills are pending in more than two dozen other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2012, Illinois … Continue Reading
Employees’ use of social media and other online services in their professional and personal lives has increased the risk of an employee bringing claims against a current or former employer. In the past three years, for example, employers have had to defend against claims related to ownership of social media accounts used by former employees … Continue Reading
At a recent forum in New York, a team of Covington lawyers addressed the growing concern among companies that their most valuable assets could leave the building on a thumb drive in an employee’s pocket or be disclosed through an employee’s use of a social media site. Addressing this threat involves many disciplines beyond trade … Continue Reading
A bill reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday would prohibit employers and schools from requesting or demanding access to employees’ or students’ personal social-media accounts. The bill, titled the “Social Networking Online Protection Act,” would bar employers from requesting or requiring that employees or job applicants provide the employer access to personal … Continue Reading
On January 22, 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council proposed guidance on the applicability of consumer protection and compliance laws, regulations, and policies to activities conducted via social media by depository institutions. The proposed guidance would not impose additional compliance obligations on institutions. Instead, the guidance is intended to help financial institutions understand potential … Continue Reading
New Jersey earlier this month became the latest state to bar college and university officials from demanding access to students’ or applicants’ personal online accounts. Gov. Chris Christie signed the law, which takes effect immediately, on Dec. 3. Under the new law, which applies to public and private higher-education institutions, schools cannot require a student or … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues to be active in considering whether companies’ social media policies run afoul of U.S. labor laws. In the latest decision implementing the approach reflected in a series of NLRB reports analyzing employer social media policies under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), an administrative law judge found that it is impermissible … Continue Reading
California is the latest state to enact legislation restricting the circumstances under which employers or schools can demand access to employees’ or students’ personal social media accounts. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills into law on Sept. 27. The first, A.B. 1844, bars employers from requiring or requesting that employees or job applicants disclose … Continue Reading
A three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that it is impermissible for Costco’s social media policy to ban employees from making electronic postings that damage the reputation of the company or anyone else. The NLRB held that policy was not permissible because Costco employees could reasonably assume that it prohibited communications … Continue Reading
This week, Facebook and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed amicus curiae briefs in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that using Facebook’s “Like” button is speech protected by the First Amendment. The court of appeals is considering whether to overturn a decision by Eastern District of Virginia Judge Raymond A. … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the FTC held a public workshop titled “In Short: Advertising & Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World.” The workshop explored whether and how the FTC should revise its 2000 guidance concerning advertising and privacy disclosures in the new era of online and mobile technology. This post will highlight the morning workshop sessions on … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a preliminary agenda for its upcoming public workshop called Advertising and Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World. The goal of the workshop is to discuss revisions to the Dot Com Disclosures, the FTC’s current guidance document on online advertising disclosures, which was published in 2000. The Dot Com Disclosures discusses … Continue Reading
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) recently introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prohibit employers from requiring current and prospective employees to disclose website usernames, passwords, and other online content. The Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA), H.R. 5050, also would apply to students at colleges, universities, and K-12 schools, and impose a … Continue Reading
Lawmakers in Maryland and Illinois have introduced bills that would prohibit employers from requiring job applicants or employees to grant access to their social networking accounts. The bills arose from reports that employers have impliedly or explicitly required access to social networking accounts as a condition of hiring or employment. A few bills have been … Continue Reading
An Eastern District of Michigan judge held that a personal injury defendant could not discover the plaintiff’s private Facebook content under Rule 26(b) governing the discoverability of evidence. Tompkins v. Detroit Metropolitan Airport, No. 2:10-cv-10413-BAF-RSW (E.D. Mich, Jan. 18, 2012). Although—as the court noted—the private portions of a user’s Facebook account are not generally privileged … Continue Reading
Last week, the FTC announced that it has agreed to end its 18-month investigation of Facebook’s privacy practices, with a settlement that involved a twenty-year compliance plan and specific steps to formalize privacy within Facebook’s organization. Though the proposed settlement, which will now be open for public comment, has met with a range of reactions, … Continue Reading
Last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed a putative class action against Facebook alleging that the company violated users’ rights of publicity by using their names and pictures for its Friend Finder service. The Judge concluded that the class failed to demonstrate that they suffered any injury as a result of the service. The Judge … Continue Reading
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules implementing the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. Like the Act, the FCC’s rules require elementary and secondary schools that have applied for discounted Internet access services through the FCC’s E-rate program to certify that the school’s Internet safety policy provides for the education of minors about appropriate online behavior, including … Continue Reading
New York start-up SocialGuide has launched from beta and released its first television ratings report this week, based on information mined and filtered from more than 10.5 million social media comments by more than 2.6 million unique users. This report, the Social100, gets most of its information from Facebook and Twitter, using application programming interface (“API”) streams to capture … Continue Reading
Your company has just launched an innovative new social media service, and you’ve received fanfare from the press, increased website traffic, and a spike in advertising revenues. In short, the service is a complete success — until you’re served with a class action complaint seeking millions of dollars in damages and a civil investigative demand … Continue Reading
Over the past few weeks, online publishers have seen regulators’ focus on privacy in the social media context reach the boiling point. Just this week, Politico reported that FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz confirmed in a letter to Sen. Mark Pryor that “FTC staff are carefully monitoring the privacy and security issues associated with social networking … Continue Reading
For the second time in a week, the California Senate has voted down “The Social Networking Privacy Act” (S.B. 242), a bill that would have required social networking services to, among other things, restrict the sharing of information by default, establish a process for new users to configure privacy settings during registration, and remove all … Continue Reading
A new bill has been introduced in the Illinois legislature that would make it illegal for employers to ask prospective employees for access to their social network profiles. The bill, H.B. 3782, would amend the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act to provide that employers may not ask job applicants for any username, … Continue Reading
Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has accepted, subject to final approval, a consent agreement from Google that would resolve the Commission’s allegations that Google engaged in deceptive trade practices when it launched its “Buzz” social networking service in February 2010. The FTC’s complaint alleges, among other things, that the launch violated Google’s privacy policy in … Continue Reading
