Localmedium impact · 5/10substantive130121

Philadelphia Employers Banned From Scrutinizing Employees' Social Media Accounts

Official:Amending Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Regulation of Businesses, Trades and Professions," by adding a new Chapter, protecting social networking privacy, by prohibiting an employer from requesting or requiring access, in any manner, to an employee's or prospective employee's account or profile on a social networking site and providing for enforcement and penalties, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Greenlee

Introduced: February 21, 2013

: Committee on Rules

economic developmentprivacytechnology

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2012–2015 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill aims to protect Philadelphia residents' social media privacy by preventing employers from requiring access to their social networking profiles.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Prohibits employers from requesting or requiring access to an employee's or prospective employee's social networking site or profile, including any account or profile on a social networking site.
Defines key terms such as "applicant", "electronic communication device", "employee", and "employer".
Creates a new chapter (9-3900) in Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code, specifically addressing social networking privacy.
Provides for enforcement and penalties, although the specific details of the enforcement mechanism and penalties are not specified in the provided text.