It's About Time

Two Democrats introduced a bill on Friday that would ban employers from asking for their workers' Facebook passwords.

The Social Networking Online Protection Act, introduced by Democratic Reps. Eliot Engel (N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), would prohibit current or potential employers from demanding a username or password to a social networking account.

The restriction would also apply to colleges, universities and schools. 

If you are not smart enough to use discretion on your social networking pages, then you reap what you sow.  I know people who have their Facebooks set to public and they are littered with pictures of bongs and anti-government wit.  That's their right, but they can't be surprised if someone legally goes there and reads, and then reacts, to what they willing made public.

However, protecting passwords and right to speech is critical and this sets an important precedent for all personal digital privacy wars to come.  If you are smart enough to keep your thoughts scrubbed for public and only rant to the people you love and trust, then no business should be able to pry into that.  Or your private correspondence, relationships (messy Facebook breakups are the norm nowadays) and other information that was walled off from the world for good reason.

I hope it passes, because we need as much protection as we can get.