One of the more unfortunate byproducts of our new social networking age is the recent trend of employers requiring prospective employees to provide access to their personal data, so that the employer can root around in their email, Facebook profiles, and so on, to spy on what goes on behind the scenes. New legislation drafted by Senator Richard Blumenthal and a team of Democrats seeks to eradicate this practice by hitting employers with financial penalties for discriminating against those who refuse to hand over their personal info.

Everyone understands the necessity of background checks, especially when vying for a job that brings with it a lot of responsibility and power. However, there has to be a line somewhere, and digging through someone’s personal email and Facebook messages seems to have surely crossed it. If somebody wants to work at Burger King, do they really need to divulge their sexting history?

via The Verge