New York City may bar social media demands by employers

NEW YORK -- Job-seekers in New York City could keep their private lives on social media off-limits to prospective employers under a proposal local lawmakers are discussing.

A City Council committee held a hearing on it Wednesday. The plan would bar employers from demanding prospective hires or current employees allow access to their non-public postings on social websites.

That could mean insisting a job applicant provide passwords or friend a manager on Facebook, for instance.

Fourteen states have passed laws addressing such practices. Others are considering it.

Privacy advocates say employers shouldn't poke into information workers share only with friends and relatives.

Some law enforcement agencies and other employers say social sites can help them discern whether an applicant has a history of inappropriate behavior.

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