{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-173.2","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 40, § 40-173.2","heading":"Prohibited actions regarding personal social media","body":"accounts – Exemptions – Civil actions.\n\nA. No employer, as defined by paragraph 1 of Section 1301 of\n\nTitle 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes, located in this state shall:\n\n1. Require an employee or prospective employee to disclose a\n\nuser name and password or other means of authentication for\n\naccessing a personal online social media account through an\n\nelectronic communications device;\n\n2. Require an employee or prospective employee to access the\n\nemployee's or prospective employee's personal online social media\n\naccount in the presence of the employer in a manner that enables the\n\nemployer to observe the contents of such accounts if the account's\n\ncontents are not available to the general public, except pursuant to\n\nan investigation as provided in subsection D of this act;\n\n3. Take retaliatory personnel action that materially and\n\nnegatively affects the terms and conditions of employment against an\n\nemployee solely for refusal to give the employer the user name or\n\npassword to the employee's personal online social media account; or\n\n4. Refuse to hire a prospective employee solely as a result of\n\nthe prospective employee's refusal to give the employer the user\n\nname and password to the prospective employee's personal online\n\nsocial media account.\n\nB. An employer may request or require an employee to disclose\n\nany user name and password for accessing:\n\n1. Any computer system, information technology network, or\n\nelectronic communications device provided or subsidized by the\n\nemployer; or\n\n2. Any accounts or services provided by the employer or by\n\nvirtue of the employee's employment relationship with the employer\n\nor that the employee uses for business purposes.\n\nC. If, through the use of an electronic device or program that\n\nmonitors an employer's network or the use of employer provided\n\ndevices, an employer inadvertently receives an employee's user name\n\nand password or other authentication information, the employer is\n\nnot liable for having such information, but may not use the\n\ninformation to access an employee's personal online social media\n\naccount.\n\nD. Nothing in this section shall prevent an employer from:\n\n1. Conducting an investigation:\n\na. for the purpose of ensuring compliance with applicable\n\nlaws, regulatory requirements or prohibitions against\n\nwork-related employee misconduct based on the receipt\n\nof specific information about activity on a personal\n\nonline social media account or personal online social\n\nmedia service by an employee or other source, or\n\nb. of an employee's actions based on the receipt of\n\nspecific information about the unauthorized transfer\n\nof an employer's proprietary information, confidential\n\ninformation or financial data to a personal online\n\nsocial media account or personal online social media\n\nservice by an employee or other source;\n\n2. Conducting an investigation as specified in subparagraphs a\n\nand b of paragraph 1 of this subsection includes requiring the\n\nemployee's cooperation to share the content that has been reported\n\nin order to make a factual determination.\n\nE. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an\n\nemployer from complying with the requirements of state or federal\n\nstatutes, rules or regulations, case law, or rules of self-\n\nregulatory organizations.\n\nF. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an\n\nemployer from accessing its computer system or information\n\ntechnology network, including electronic communications devices\n\nowned by the employer. Neither this section nor any other Oklahoma\n\nlaw shall prohibit an employer from reviewing or accessing personal\n\nonline social media accounts that an employee may choose to use\n\nwhile utilizing an employer's computer system, information\n\ntechnology network or an employer's electronic communication device.\n\nG. An employee or prospective employee may bring a civil action\n\nagainst an employer who violates this section in a court located in\nma\n\nlaw shall prohibit an employer from reviewing or accessing personal\n\nonline social media accounts that an employee may choose to use\n\nwhile utilizing an employer's computer system, information\n\ntechnology network or an employer's electronic communication device.\n\nG. An employee or prospective employee may bring a civil action\n\nagainst an employer who violates this section in a court located in\n\nthe county in which the alleged violation occurred. Such action\n\nshall be brought within six (6) months after the alleged violation\n\noccurred. The employee or prospective employee may seek injunctive\n\nrelief to restrain the employer from continuing to act in violation\n\nof this section, but must show by clear and convincing evidence that\n\nthe employer violated this act. The only damages recoverable for a\n\nviolation of this act are Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per\n\nviolation. No punitive or emotional damages are recoverable, and\n\nthis section may not be utilized for the basis of a public policy\n\ntort.\n\nH. As used in this section:\n\n1. \"Electronic communications device\" means a device that uses\n\nelectronic signals to create, transmit or receive information,\n\nincluding computers, telephones, personal digital assistants and\n\nother similar devices; and\n\n2. \"Personal online social media account\" means an online\n\naccount that is used by an employee or prospective employee\n\nexclusively for personal communications that an individual\n\nestablishes and uses through an electronic application, service or\n\nplatform used to generate or store content, including, but not\n\nlimited to, videos, still photographs, blogs, video blogs, instant\n\nmessages, audio recordings or email that is not available to the\n\ngeneral public.","path":["OK Code","Title 40"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os40.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"d2fa63bb70789d226496eaca452fd3d436b8d4a2dd4711b92bef91cd2fe1e9b3","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-173.1","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-40-40-173.3"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}