Can a Delaware employer ask for your social media password? 19 Del. C. 709A explained

Delaware limits what employers can ask of the personal social media of employees and job applicants in Title 19, section 709A of the Delaware Code, "Employer use of social media", added by 80 Delaware Laws chapter 146 (19 Del. C. 709A).

The short answer: a Delaware employer may not require or request an employee or applicant to disclose a social media login, open their account in front of the employer, use personal social media as a condition of employment, add the employer or anyone else as a contact or to a group, or change privacy settings, and may not retaliate against someone who refuses. It can still require logins for its own devices and accounts, and the section leaves room to ask for a login in an investigation of misconduct. The section itself names no penalty or right to sue.

Who is covered

• Employer: any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee or applicant, including the State and its political subdivisions, boards, departments, commissions and school districts, but not the United States government (709A(a)(4)).
• Employees and applicants: an employee is any individual employed within Delaware by an employer, and an applicant is a prospective employee applying for employment. Federal government employees and applicants are not covered (709A(a)(1), (3)).
• Personal social media: an account on a social networking site created and operated by the employee or applicant exclusively for personal use. It does not include an account created or operated by the employer and run by the employee as part of the job (709A(a)(5)). A social networking site is an internet-based, personalized, privacy-protected website or application that lets users build a private or semi-private profile, keep a list of users with reciprocal access, send and receive e-mail, and share personal content (709A(a)(6)).

What employers may not do

An employer may not require or request an employee or applicant to (709A(b)):

• disclose a username or password so the employer can access personal social media;
• access personal social media in the presence of the employer;
• use personal social media as a condition of employment;
• divulge any personal social media, subject to the exceptions in the section;
• add anyone, including the employer, as a contact, or invite or accept an invitation from anyone, including the employer, to join a group on their personal social media;
• change settings that affect a third party's ability to view the contents of their personal social media.

Retaliation: an employer may not discharge, discipline, threaten to discharge or discipline, or otherwise retaliate against an employee or applicant for not complying with a request or demand that breaks these rules. The section adds that it does not stop an employer from terminating or taking other adverse action where otherwise permitted by law (709A(h)).

The ban on asking a worker to use personal social media as a condition of employment, and the mention of groups, go further than most other states' laws.

What employers may still do

• Investigations: the section does not affect an employer's rights and obligations under its personnel policies, federal or state law, case law or other rules to require or request an employee to disclose a username, password or social media reasonably believed to be relevant to an investigation of alleged employee misconduct or violation of applicable laws and regulations, provided the social media is used solely for that investigation or a related proceeding (709A(c)). Our reading, not a court ruling, is that this leaves room for an employer to ask for a login in such an investigation.
• Work devices and accounts: require or request a username, password or other method to access an electronic communication device supplied or paid for in whole or in part by the employer, or an account or service provided by the employer, obtained through the employment relationship or used for its business purposes (709A(d)).
• Work networks: monitor, review, access or block electronic data stored on the employer's network or on devices it supplies or pays for in whole or in part (709A(e)).
• Legal duties: comply with a duty to screen employees or applicants, or to monitor or retain employee communications, set by federal or state law or a securities self-regulatory organization, or in a law enforcement agency's applicant or officer conduct investigation (709A(f)).
• Public information: view, access or use information about an employee or applicant that is in the public domain (709A(g)).

Enforcement

Section 709A does not itself name a penalty, a fine, an enforcing agency or a right for workers to sue. Other sections in the same subchapter of the Delaware Code carry their own civil penalties, but 709A has no penalty clause of its own. If you think it has been broken, ask a Delaware employment lawyer or the Delaware Department of Labor what routes apply.

What this means in practice

• Employers: do not ask for logins, ask staff or candidates to open their accounts in front of you, require them to use social media for the job on their personal accounts, or ask to be added as a contact or to a group. Give staff employer-run accounts for work. In an investigation, keep any request tied to the allegations and use what you get only for that investigation.
• Workers and applicants: you can refuse, and the employer may not retaliate for that. Public information can still be seen.

Compare the Rhode Island social media password law and the other states in social media password laws in the US. Montana has its own law, which requires a login in some investigations.

This page covers Delaware and is general information based on the Delaware Code published by the State of Delaware when checked on 3 November 2026, not legal advice. Check for later amendments before relying on it.