Digital Smarts - Law in Illinois Allows Schools to Demand Students’ Facebook Passwords

Privacy concerns have been raised when a new Illinois state law went into effect on January 1 that can force students to hand over their social media login credentials to their school if school and state officials believe it can help prevent hostile online behavior. Privacy advocates say it is one thing for students to have to show their social media page, but quite another to hand over access to personal information. Some districts have even hired companies to monitor the social media presence of their students. While this new law is sure to be tested in the courts, it does signal the no- nonsense approach that many lawmakers have on cyberbullying and it will be interesting to see if other states follow. It will also be interesting to see how it all plays out when Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities section 4.8 reads: "You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."