HB 424 Summary

• Prohibits employers from requesting or requiring employees and job applicants to grant access to, allow observation of, or provide credentials for personal internet-based accounts.

• Prohibits employers from discharging, disciplining, failing to hire, or penalizing employees and applicants for refusing to provide access to personal internet accounts.

• Prohibits educational institutions from requiring students and prospective students to provide access to personal internet accounts, and from expelling, disciplining, denying admission, or penalizing them for refusal.

• Allows employers and educational institutions to access employer-provided devices, employer accounts, and publicly available information without requiring personal account access, and permits investigations when specific information about work-related misconduct exists.

• Creates civil cause of action in court of common pleas for violations, allowing recovery of up to $1,000 in damages plus attorney's fees and court costs, with a required 60-day written demand before filing suit; establishes violation as first-degree misdemeanor with up to $1,000 fine.