Employer Access to Personal Social Media Accounts
MT Social Media Privacy (Employment)
Employees
Montana employers may not require or ask employees or applicants for personal social media usernames or passwords, to open accounts in front of them, or to hand over account content. Narrow exceptions apply to specific workplace-misconduct, data-theft and regulatory investigations. A 2023 amendment also bars retaliation for lawful free speech on personal social media, subject to written policies and contracts.
- Where
- Montana
- Citation
- Mont. Code Ann. 39-2-307
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2015-10-01
- Last amended
- 2023-10-01
- Enforced by
- Private action by employee or applicant in small claims court
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Small-claims action within 1 year for $500 or actual damages up to the small-claims limit, plus costs; an employer that improperly gained information and then suffers a security breach faces penalties under 30-14-142 (39-2-307(7)-(8)).
- Applies to
- Employers and their agents, as to employees and job applicants (39-2-307(1))
Practices it requires
- Do not require or request an employee or applicant to disclose personal social media credentials, access personal social media in the employer's presence, or divulge personal social media content.Mont. Code Ann. 39-2-307(1)
- Do not retaliate against an employee or applicant for refusing an unlawful request or for legal free speech on personal social media (unless it violates a written policy or employment contract).Mont. Code Ann. 39-2-307(4)-(5) · From 2023-10-01
Other duties
- Credentials may be required only during an investigation based on specific information about work-related misconduct, criminal defamation, transfer of proprietary data, or federal or self-regulatory compliance needs.Mont. Code Ann. 39-2-307(2)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective dates inferred from history notes (En. Ch. 263, L. 2015; amd. Ch. 361, L. 2023) and the default October 1 rule. The 2023 free-speech retaliation clause is attributed to Ch. 361, L. 2023 by inference.
Research reference, not legal advice.