Public Act 098-0501
 
SB2306 EnrolledLRB098 07066 JLS 37125 b

    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act is
amended by changing Section 10 as follows:
 
    (820 ILCS 55/10)  (from Ch. 48, par. 2860)
    Sec. 10. Prohibited inquiries.
    (a) It shall be unlawful for any employer to inquire, in a
written application or in any other manner, of any prospective
employee or of the prospective employee's previous employers,
whether that prospective employee has ever filed a claim for
benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act or Workers'
Occupational Diseases Act or received benefits under these
Acts.
    (b)(1) Except as provided in this subsection, it It shall
be unlawful for any employer to request or require any employee
or prospective employee to provide any password or other
related account information in order to gain access to the
employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a
social networking website or to demand access in any manner to
an employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a
social networking website.
    (2) Nothing in this subsection shall limit an employer's
right to:
        (A) promulgate and maintain lawful workplace policies
    governing the use of the employer's electronic equipment,
    including policies regarding Internet use, social
    networking site use, and electronic mail use; and
        (B) monitor usage of the employer's electronic
    equipment and the employer's electronic mail without
    requesting or requiring any employee or prospective
    employee to provide any password or other related account
    information in order to gain access to the employee's or
    prospective employee's account or profile on a social
    networking website.
    (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit an employer
from obtaining about a prospective employee or an employee
information that is in the public domain or that is otherwise
obtained in compliance with this amendatory Act of the 97th
General Assembly.
    (3.5) Provided that the password, account information, or
access sought by the employer relates to a professional
account, and not a personal account, nothing in this subsection
shall prohibit or restrict an employer from complying with a
duty to screen employees or applicants prior to hiring or to
monitor or retain employee communications as required under
Illinois insurance laws or federal law or by a self-regulatory
organization as defined in Section 3(A)(26) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78(A)(26).
    (4) For the purposes of this subsection, "social networking
website" means an Internet-based service that allows
individuals to:
        (A) construct a public or semi-public profile within a
    bounded system, created by the service;
        (B) create a list of other users with whom they share a
    connection within the system; and
        (C) view and navigate their list of connections and
    those made by others within the system.
    "Social networking website" shall not include electronic
mail.
    For the purposes of paragraph (3.5) of this subsection,
"professional account" means an account, service, or profile
created, maintained, used, or accessed by a current or
prospective employee for business purposes of the employer.
    For the purposes of paragraph (3.5) of this subsection,
"personal account" means an account, service, or profile on a
social networking website that is used by a current or
prospective employee exclusively for personal communications
unrelated to any business purposes of the employer.
(Source: P.A. 97-875, eff. 1-1-13.)