Employer Access to Employee Personal Social Media Accounts in Arkansas
Not sure how this applies to you? Ask about your own facts and see which parts of current Arkansas law apply, with citations to the statutes.
Free for 7 days, then $249/mo. Cancel anytime.
At a glance
| Governing law and covered accounts | Ark. Code § 11-2-124 covers personal social media accounts with user-generated content, including messages and email; employer-requested, employer-provided, employer-use, and impersonation accounts are excluded (§ 11-2-124(a)(3)). |
|---|---|
| Covered employers, employees, and applicants | Employers in the state include businesses, state/local government units, and their agents; current employees and prospective employees are covered (§ 11-2-124(a)(1)–(2), (b)). |
| Credential and observed-access demands | Employer may not require, request, suggest, or cause disclosure of a username and password for a personal account; the section does not separately enumerate employer-observed display (§ 11-2-124(b)(1)(A)). |
| Contact and privacy-setting demands | Employer may not require, request, suggest, or cause a privacy-setting change; it may not require adding another employee, supervisor, or administrator to account contacts (§ 11-2-124(b)(1)(B), (b)(2)). |
| Refusal, retaliation, and hiring | Employer may not take or threaten listed action against a current employee for exercising subsection (b) rights or fail/refuse to hire a prospective employee for doing so (§ 11-2-124(c)). |
| Investigation and specific-content route | A formal investigation or related proceeding into alleged law/regulation or written-policy violations may permit a username/password request if account activity is reasonably believed relevant; use is limited to that purpose (§ 11-2-124(e)(2)). |
| Employer accounts, public content, and regulated work | Employer-requested or employer-provided business accounts are excluded; public Internet information may be viewed, and legal or self-regulatory duties remain (§ 11-2-124(a)(3)(B), (d), (e)(1)). |
| Inadvertently received credentials and use | Accidental receipt of login information through an employer device or network monitor excuses possession, but the employer may not use it to access the personal account (§ 11-2-124(b)(3)). |
| Enforcement and remedies | § 11-2-124 states the employer bans and exceptions but names no account-specific complaint forum, damages amount, or private action. |
Requirements one by one
Account demands and refusal
Ark. Code § 11-2-124(a) defines the covered people and accounts. Section 11-2-124(b)(1) bars requiring, requesting, suggesting, or causing a current or prospective employee to disclose a personal-account username and password or change privacy settings. The 2017 amendment places a required addition of another employee, supervisor, or administrator to account contacts in § 11-2-124(b)(2). Ark. Code § 11-2-124(c) protects a current employee's exercise of those rights from listed adverse action and a prospective employee's exercise from failure or refusal to hire.
Formal investigation and accidental receipt
Section 11-2-124(e)(2) preserves a request for an employee's username and password when account activity is reasonably believed relevant to a formal investigation or related proceeding into alleged violations of law, regulations, or the employer's written policies. The credentials may be used only for that purpose. Under § 11-2-124(b)(3), inadvertent receipt through an employer-provided device or network monitor excuses possession, but not use to access the account.
What trips people up
- Contact and privacy demands differ. Section 11-2-124(b)(1) covers even a suggestion to change settings; subsection (b)(2) bars requiring a contact addition. The 2017 amendment created that separate contact clause.
- The investigation exception can reach credentials. Section 11-2-124(e)(2) preserves a formal, relevance-based request and restricts use of the credentials to that investigation or related proceeding.
- Business accounts are outside the definition. Section 11-2-124(a)(3)(B) excludes accounts opened at the employer's request, employer-provided accounts, and accounts set up for the employer.
Common questions
May an employer view public posts? Yes. Section 11-2-124(d) preserves viewing information publicly available on the Internet.
Does the account definition include email? Yes. Section 11-2-124(a)(3)(A) includes email and messages among the listed examples of user-generated content in a personal account.
What if monitoring captures login details by accident? Section 11-2-124(b)(3) excuses possession through the specified device or network monitoring, but forbids using those details to enter the personal account.
Statutes and sources
- Ark. Code § 11-2-124, 2013 Act 1480: definitions, refusal, public-information, and investigation provisions; accessed 2026-10-17.
- Ark. Code § 11-2-124(b), 2017 Act 792: current credential, contact, privacy, and accidental-receipt language; accessed 2026-10-17.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
What does Arkansas law mean for your facts?
You just read the general rule. Ask your own question and see which parts of current Arkansas law apply to your situation, with citations you can check.
Try Ezel Pro free for 7 days. Cancel anytime before the trial ends and you pay nothing.
- Starts from the statutes this survey is built on
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace