united-states employment canada germany
Is it legal for employers to ask for social media handles?
<p>is it legal for employers to ask for social media handles in job application or pre-employment forms? If it is unrelated to the job?</p>

<p>I understand for jobs like marketing, modeling etc. where a large social media following increases the cash flow, in that case it makes sense to ask for the handles as the person will be a face of the company. Hence the request and assessment could be written under job requirement.</p>

<p>But for a position completely unrelated to one's social media presence, is it legal?</p>

<p>Looking at North America and Europe ; Canada, USA, Germany</p>

<p>An example of a near-restriction is Washington's <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=49.44.200" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RCW 49.44.200</a>, which prohibits an employer from "Request[ing], requir[ing], or otherwise coerc[ing]" an employee or applicant to disclose "login information" for a social media account, or require the person to access the account in a way that the employer can see the content of that account. "Login information" is defined as "a user name and password, a password, or other means of authentication that protects access to a personal social networking account" – so "user6726" is not login information. It would be legal to require me to reveal my SE username, in Washington. The same kind of law exists in <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/2017/title-11/chapter-2/subchapter-1/section-11-2-124/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Arkansas</a>. <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&amp;sectionNum=980." rel="nofollow noreferrer">California law</a> is different – an employee may not require or request an employee to "Disclose a username <em>or</em> password". <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Social%20Media%20Act.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Colorado law</a> is similar.</p>

<p>I have no idea if the various state legislatures intended this difference, or if they simply are unaware that "and" and "or" mean different things.</p>
