More Lawmakers Champion Facebook Password Privacy

Two Democratic Senators, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Charles Schumer of New York, have asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate whether U.S. law already prohibits employers to force job applicants to surrender their Facebook passwords.

Two Democratic Senators, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Charles Schumer of New York, have asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate whether U.S. law already prohibits employers to force job applicants to surrender their Facebook passwords.

The practice may violate the Stored Communications Act or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The SCA grants First Amendment-type protections to online communications, while the CFAA prohibits intentional access without authorization to data stored on a computer.

Blumenthal is already working on a bill that would prohibit employers and prospective employers from requesting access to Facebook accounts.

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