HB2173 Summary

• Creates the Personal Online Account Privacy Act prohibiting employers and educational institutions from requiring employees, applicants, students, or prospective students to disclose passwords, usernames, or non-public contents of personal online accounts.

• Prohibits employers and educational institutions from requiring individuals to provide device authentication information, grant account access, change account settings to increase third-party access, or add contacts to personal online accounts.

• Allows employers and educational institutions to access publicly available information, comply with state and federal law, and request specifically identified content reported to them for investigating unauthorized data transfers, workplace harassment, or threats of violence.

• Requires employers and educational institutions that inadvertently receive authentication information through lawful network security monitoring to delete it promptly and prohibits its use or sharing.

• Authorizes private civil actions for violations with damages including actual damages, mental pain and suffering, reasonable attorneys' fees, and other litigation costs; takes effect January 1, 3000.