Schools can require students to hand over their social media passwords under Illinois law

An Illinois bill allowing schools to ask for social media passwords from students has led to at least one district notifying parents of the policy.

The bill requires that elementary and secondary schools students provide social media passwords if the school has reasonable cause to believe the student’s social media account has evidence he or she violated a disciplinary rule or policy. It was signed by former Governor Pat Quinn (R-IL) in 2013, but didn’t go into effect until Jan 1, 2015. Legislation prohibiting schools from accessing information about students’ social media was introduced in Hawaii, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Rhode Island in 2014, and at least 28 states have introduced or have pending legislation regarding employer access to social media usernames and passwords as of November.