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<B><I>Online Exclusive:</b></i> <b>House Rejects Facebook Password Amendment</b>

By Steven Salkin, Esq.
March 30, 2012

On March 29, The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment to the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. 3309) that would have allowed the FCC to prevent employers from asking for social networking passwords from prospective employees.

The Amendment was proposed by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO). 'What this amendment does is it says that you cannot demand, as a condition of employment, that somebody reveal a confidential password to their Facebook, to their Flickr, to their Twitter, whatever their account may be,' Perlmutter said during a speech on the House floor. The Amendment read:

'Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be construed to limit or restrict the ability of the Federal Communications Commission to adopt a rule or to amend an existing rule to protect online privacy, including requirements in such rule that prohibit licensees or regulated entities from mandating that job applicants or employees disclose confidential passwords to social networking websites.'

The Amendment was voted down 236 to 184. Only one House Republican voted in support of the amendment, while only two House Democrats voted against the amendment, although Republicans have stated they would be willing to to work on similar legislation in the future, according to PCWorld. The overall Reform Act, which is designed to make the FCC more transparent, passed 247-174, PC World reports.

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