It seems that only in the US does it require a law to be a good employer. California and Illinois have bought in laws that stop employers demanding access to workers' password-protected social networking accounts.
The laws are part of a raft of measures which include the nationalisation of every woman’s womb to prevent them having abortions in New Hampshire, public-employee pension reform in California and Alabama, same-sex marriage in Maryland, and a requirement that private insurers in Alaska cover autism in kids and young adults.
But what had been happening in the US was that employers were demanding social networking passwords or non-public online account information from their employees or job applicants. Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed a similar measure into law earlier this month that took effect immediately. The Michigan law also penalises educational institutions for dismissing or failing to admit a student who does not provide passwords and other account information used to access private internet and email accounts, including social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
It seems that schools and employers believe that they should be made gods in the lives of their students and workers. Sadly it looks like only state legislation will stop them.