State lawmakers are trying to protect the privacy of student Facebook users. (Photo used by Flickr user hackNY)

By Claudia Johnson

SPRINGFIELD - A state lawmaker’s drive to protect the privacy of Facebook users continues. State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago), who last year passed a bill keeping employers from asking employees for their usernames and passwords, is now sponsoring a bill to do the same for students.

“Passwords are the key to, not only to the Facebook private settings, it’s the key to a person’s e-mail account and it’s the key to possible credit card information,” Ford said.

Deanna Sullivan of the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance says there should be a middle ground that protects students and allows schools to protect students

“More and more we are being compelled to engage in protection of students for bullying issues, for a whole host of things,” Sullivan said.

The bill, H.B. 64, is in the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.