Password Protected: States Pass Anti-Snooping Laws

Worried about your boss prying into your personal business, poking around in aspects of your life you’d rather keep between friends and family — even as you’re sharing more of it on social media? Seventeen states have drawn a line on what’s your business and what your boss can access by passing laws that ban employers from asking for the logins and passwords to the personal social media, email and other online networking accounts of their workers and prospective hires. Since Maryland passed the first ban two years ago after a state employee complained of having to reveal the password to his Facebook account, social media marketing strategy legislatures in states as politically different as Michigan and California, New Jersey and Utah, have passed laws that impose restrictions on snooping by government and private employers. Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin passed laws this year, while Maine lawmakers voted to study restrictions. Similar legislation was introduced this year or is pending in more than 20 other states, according to tracking by the National Conference of State Legislatures. As social media explodes in popularity, employers increasingly are concerned that what employees say in cyberspace could damage their business. Meanwhile, more workers are bringing social media marketing plan their own smartphones and tablets into the office. Sponsors of the legislation say the laws are needed to keep basic privacy rights apace with technology. “Fifty years ago, if somebody brought in a stack of personal correspondence and put it in their locker, the employer wouldn’t demand to see it,” said Republican state Sen. Kyle Loveless, Senate sponsor of Oklahoma’s law, which was signed in May. “In today’s time, people put (personal correspondence) online. An employer shouldn’t have the right to see it.

What to Do When A Potential Employer Asks for Your Facebook Password

Tony Morrison is the Vice President of Business Development at Cachinko. Find him on Talent Connection and connect with Cachinko on Facebook or Twitter. Could you imagine a job interview during which your interviewer asks you for your Facebook password? Well folks, social media marketing companies it's happening and you should know what to do when it happens to you. The reason why companies are doing this is to get better insight into who you really are. They will strategically ask you to look at Facebook with them — right there, on the spot. You would think there would be some type of HR regulation in place to prohibit this type of conduct during an interview, but currently there is not — although the state of Maryland is starting to take action in a case regarding the Facebook profiles of student athletes. With that in mind, what about job applicants in all the other states? Maryland is the first to do anything about this (and it's currently concerned with student protections), so how long will it take for the job applicant process to be evaluated? Will asking for social networking account social media marketing services passwords be prohibited? The answer is, “There is no answer.” But you do not have to give the information as a condition of employment. Let’s go over some things you can do to protect yourself on a job interview. Don't forget: You have the right to a personal life and your privacy!

Why Twitter is demanding answers after a black woman mysteriously died in police custody

Another week, another unarmed black person who, in death, is memorialized by a hashtag. Her name? Sandra Bland. No one seems to believe what they’ve initially learned about her July 13 death while in police custody. Bland was in the process of relocation from social media marketing university Chicago area for a job she was set to start this week. According to reports, family and friends who had been in communication with Bland said she was upbeat and excited to embark on a new adventure. She showed no signs of being distressed or depressed in any way. Yet Bland has become another hashtag—in a trend of black people whose lives ended tragically at the hands of police; authorities claim she committed suicide while in jail. And it all stems from a police stop over an alleged traffic violation. It was just a traffic violation. Based on Facebook videos posted by Bland, some initial reports suggest she may have suffered from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. While Bland’s mental health status may have played a factor, that alone—especially if it is a self-diagnosis and not one made by a mental health professional—isn’t enough to make the logical jump that she indeed took her own life. However, if the video accurately captures the nature of Bland’s arrest, what is social media marketing how she was treated by police—and how the public has reacted—indeed speaks to a troubling pattern. When black women experience police brutality, it’s often harder to keep their cases in the public conversation.