Maryland was the first state to ban employers from asking for the passwords to workers’ personal online accounts. Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill on May 2, 2012, and it took effect on October 1, 2012. Under the law, an employer “may not request or require that an employee or applicant disclose any user name, password” for a personal account.
The law passed amid news reports that some employers asked applicants for Facebook passwords, or asked applicants and employees to “friend” hiring managers. An employer also may not punish an employee who refuses, or reject an applicant who refuses.
In practice, a job candidate in Maryland can say no when an interviewer asks for a Facebook password. The refusal cannot cost the candidate the job.