A group of Democrats of both the House and Senate introduced a legislation to prevent employers from asking employees as well as job applicants into sharing their personal information like social networking accounts details. Mike Rispoli of Access Now got in touch with ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski and discusses about the Password Protection Act of 2012 (PPA), one such act that would prevent employers to not to seek any such details.
Here’s the petition’s description:
Right now, your boss or school can demand that you hand over your Facebook or email password, and there is nothing you can do to stop them. Some people have even been fired from their jobs for refusing to reveal their passwords! But the US government could be about to take the lead and change all that.
Wherever we live, these “Give up your password or else” policies are a blatant invasion of our privacy, but there are no explicit laws currently that protect users from this practice. The recent introduction of the Password Protection Act in the US could set a precedent – and is something we should all support. Read our blog for more info on the bill.
All attempts by lawmakers have failed thus far, in part because the internet community has not spoken out. With the Password Protection Act, we now have an opportunity to get the US to set a national and international standard for safeguarding our online identities.
Sign the Access petition to the right, calling for the immediate passage of the Password Protection Act, and we’ll deliver your signatures to Congress before they vote on the bill.
The aim is to get around 25,000 signatures although the group has already received 22,000 signatures, means three thousands required more and in bringing such an act, it would not be difficult. To be a part of it, you can sign as well as at: Pass the Password Protection Act.
