A new bill would prohibit employers, universities and landlords from requesting applicants’ social media passwords and looking through their personal accounts.

Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, announced Tuesday she and Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, are looking for cosponsors on the bill. Sargent said the bill seeks to protect the privacy of Wisconsinites.

Sargent said as Americans use social media more, lawmakers need to examine whether what an individual posts on their private accounts is actually private.

“Part of our job as legislators is to keep up with changing times,” Sargent said.

According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, nothing currently prevents employers, colleges or landlords from requesting passwords to accounts and allowing what they find play a role in their decision. The bill would still allow employers to look at public postings but prohibits them from asking for usernames and passwords to access private information.

Sargent said the bill would not just protect applicants’ information, but also senders personal information. 

“A big part of this is personal privacy, [but] it’s not only for the protection of the account holder,” Sargent said. “If someone was to get your login password, they would have access to your friends’ and families’ personal information as well, so I think it’s important to protect those folks also.”

Sargent said she introduced the bill after hearing from constituents who have been asked for their account information.

In addition to Bies, Sargent said a number of other representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, have signed on as cosponsors. Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, is introducing the bill in the Senate. 

University of Wisconsin political science professor Donald Downs, an adviser to The Badger Herald’s Board of Directors, said he understands why employers use this practice, as there could be incriminating information about a prospective employee online.

However, he said he supports the bill because it would ensure private posts remain “off limits.”

“If a person has made an effort to make [information] private, then that should be honored,” Downs said.

Sargent said if Wisconsin were to pass the bill, it would join six states that have already passed similar legislation. The statement said 28 other states are considering similar bills.