Employer Access to Employee Personal Social Media Accounts in Wisconsin
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At a glance
| Governing law and covered accounts | Wis. Stat. § 995.55 covers an internet account created and used exclusively for personal communications; 'access information' includes credentials and other security information (§ 995.55(1)). |
|---|---|
| Covered employers, employees, and applicants | Any employer with at least one worker, including state/local government, is covered; employees and employment applicants are protected (§ 995.55(1)(c), (2)(a)). |
| Credential and observed-access demands | As a condition of employment, employer may not request or require credentials, access, or observation of a personal account (§ 995.55(2)(a)1.). |
| Contact and privacy-setting demands | § 995.55(2)(a)1. covers access information, access, and observation; it does not separately enumerate contacts or privacy-setting changes. |
| Refusal, retaliation, and hiring | No discharge or discrimination for refusal, opposition, complaint, or testimony; no refusal to hire for declining access or observation (§ 995.55(2)(a)2.–3.). |
| Investigation and specific-content route | On reasonable cause for specified account-linked misconduct or unauthorized data transfer, employer may require account access/observation for investigation but not credentials (§ 995.55(2)(b)3.). |
| Employer accounts, public content, and regulated work | Work devices/accounts, public information, legal screening/retention duties, and a financial-services business-use exception are preserved (§ 995.55(2)(b)1., 4.–7., (c)). |
| Inadvertently received credentials and use | No liability for inadvertently obtained credentials through employer devices or monitoring if the employer does not use them to access the account (§ 995.55(2)(d)). |
| Enforcement and remedies | Violation may bring a forfeiture up to $1,000; a fired/discriminated worker or rejected applicant may complain to Workforce Development for remedial orders (§ 995.55(6)(a)–(b)). |
Requirements one by one
Credentials, access, and refusal
Wis. Stat. § 995.55(2)(a)1. bars making access information, account access, or employer observation a condition of employment. Subdivisions 2. and 3. protect an employee's refusal, opposition, complaint, or testimony and an applicant's refusal to disclose access information or grant access. Section 995.55(1)(d) defines the account by exclusive personal communication; Wis. Stat. § 995.55(1)(a) defines access information to include a username, password, or other security information.
Investigation without credentials
Wis. Stat. § 995.55(2)(b)3. allows an employer with reasonable cause to investigate specified unauthorized transfers or account activity tied to misconduct, law, or written work rules. For that investigation, it may require access or observation, but “may not require the employee to disclose access information for that account.”
Enforcement
Wis. Stat. § 995.55(6)(a) permits a forfeiture of up to $1,000 for a violation of the account-access or retaliation provisions. Subsection (6)(b) lets a discharged or discriminated employee, or a rejected applicant, file a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development for remedial orders.
What trips people up
- An investigation may permit observed access. Section 995.55(2)(b)3. expressly permits access or observation on its reasonable-cause facts while withholding permission to demand credentials.
- Financial-services business use has its own boundary. Section 995.55(2)(c) excludes a qualifying worker's account or device used for business subject to federal securities or self-regulatory content, supervision, and retention requirements.
Common questions
Can an employer see public information? Yes. Section 995.55(2)(b)6. preserves information available without access information or in the public domain.
What if a work device reveals a password accidentally? Section 995.55(2)(d) excuses possession of credentials obtained through the specified monitoring or employer device only while the employer does not use them to access the personal account.
May an employer ask for a personal email address? Section 995.55(2)(b)7. permits that request, distinct from access information for the email account.
Can an employer control access to its own device or network? Wis. Stat. § 995.55(2)(b)1. permits access information for employer-paid devices and work accounts; § 995.55(2)(b)4. preserves restrictions on internet sites while using those devices or the employer's network.
Statutes and sources
- Wis. Stat. § 995.55: internet privacy protection; accessed 2026-10-17.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
What does Wisconsin law mean for your facts?
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