New York Bosses Blocked From Snooping On Employees’ Personal Social Media

Employers in New York State are now prohibited from asking job applicants and employees for access to their private social media accounts, following the lead of more than two dozen states.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation last week blocking employers from requesting or requiring applicants or employees to disclose information that includes usernames or passwords to access a personal account. Asking current or prospective employees to give employers that information can create unfair and discriminatory hiring and admissions practices, according to the legislation.

"There have to be limits to what your employer can demand from you," State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), who co-authored the legislation, said last week. "Your personal life and your personal social media are your business, not your boss's."

In 2018, CareerBuilder found that 70% of employers check applicants' social media profiles during the screening process, believing it offers them insight into a candidate's personality and hobbies. But it also offers them access to details they are legally barred from considering, such as disabilities, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and more, according to a 2020 study that examined how social media profiles could influence recruiters' judgments.

The study also found posts on job seekers' profiles, such as gambling or references to drug use, that may make employers wary.

“You can see why many recruiters love social media—it allows them to discover all the information they aren’t allowed to ask about during an interview,” Chad Van Iddekinge, a management professor at the University of Iowa told Harvard Business Review in 2021. “But that’s a problem, because one of the hallmarks of legal hiring practices is that they focus on behaviors within the work context. There should be a clear distinction between what people do during work and what they do outside of it.”

About 88% of U.S. hiring managers said they would consider firing employees for content found on their social media, according to a Dec. 2022 Harris Poll commission by Express Employment International. The most fireable offense according to those hiring managers was content that damaged the company's reputation or confidential information, at 59% and 58%, respectively.

Roughly a third of U.S. recruiters request access to candidates' Facebook pages — and most job seekers grant those requests — according to HBR. At least 27 states have enacted privacy laws prohibiting employers from asking applicants for social media pages, or tools and passwords to access their private accounts, according to Justia.

“The proliferation of social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Threads has vastly increased the accessibility of information,” State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx), who wrote the legislation with Ramos, said in a statement to the New York Post. “Nevertheless, certain employers go to great lengths beyond publicly shared data when making hiring and disciplinary determinations."