Privacy Law Discussion Post 2

After reading the New Jersey statute relevant to privacy protection for employees, I feel that it provides too little protection for employees. It essentially states that employers are unable to require current or future employees to disclose the usernames and passwords to any of their personal social networking accounts. Although this concept is important to enact, I believe there needs to be more regulation. For instance, the Delaware statute regarding employee privacy rights goes into much more detail about the limitations employers have regarding employee social networking accounts. In addition to preventing employees from having to disclose their usernames and passwords to their employers, the Delaware statute prohibits employers from requiring the following:

• Access to personal social media in the presence of the employer
• Accepting the invitation of the employer on a personal social networking site
• Altering the settings of the employee's account to view the contents of the personal social media (i.e., turning a "private" account public) (Employer use of social media, 2015).

Although New Jersey has made a step in the right direction of enacting their own privacy statutes, it is clear that they need more regulation in comparison to the privacy statutes of other states. If an employer in New Jersey were to violate the relevant privacy statute, they would be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for the first offense, and an additional $2,500 for each subsequent violation (Civil penalties, 2013). I do not believe that these penalties are too harsh, however I also do not believe that simply paying a fine solves the issue at hand. If a larger company were to commit such a violation, paying a small fine would likely seem miniscule in the grand scheme of their operations, and they could easily commit the same violation again for a small penalty. If a company were to violate an employee's privacy rights, they should at least pay the employee for compensatory damages and other legal costs.

Regarding the New Jersey statute relevant to privacy protection for students upon higher education institutions, I once again believe that it provides too little protection for students compared to some of the other statutes enacted in other states. New Jersey's privacy statute for students prevents institutions from requiring the disclosure of usernames and passwords for personal social media accounts, and it also prevents the inquiry of whether a student has a social media account or not. To compare, Delaware's privacy statute for students enacts the same provisions as New Jersey, but also includes those institutions cannot access a student's account through an indirect source and cannot require a student to add the institution to their personal account (Academic institution; prohibited acts, 2012). Students should be entitled to keep their social media accounts separate from the institution they attend.

If an institution violates the relevant New Jersey privacy statute, they are subject to provide any of the following penalties to the applicant: injunctive relief, compensatory damages incurred by the applicant, and attorney's fees and court costs (Violations; remedies, 2012). I do believe that these penalties are appropriate should an institution violate the privacy statute. It is important to hold institutions accountable and ensure that students' privacy is protected, and all costs associated with such a violation should be covered by the violator.

Despite the fact that I believe strongly in privacy rights for employees and students, I want to make it clear that anything posted in a public domain is reasonable for employers and/or institutions to obtain. If an employee or student posts something that is of public knowledge, respective employers and institutions should have the right to acknowledge such information. In this way, if an employee or student publicly posts something this is inherently against the law, institutions and employers should be able to take the necessary action against the employee/student to ensure compliance with the law and ultimately protect their business.

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