Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act

LA POAPPA

Employees · Students

Bars employers and schools from requiring employees, applicants, students, or prospective students to hand over usernames, passwords, or other login credentials for their personal online accounts, and from punishing them for refusing. Employers may still require credentials for employer-provided devices and business accounts and may investigate specific reports of misconduct or data leakage. The law creates no duty to monitor personal accounts.

Where: Louisiana
Citation: La. R.S. 51:1951 to 51:1955 (Acts 2014, No. 165)
Status: In force
In force since: 2014-08-01
Enforced by: None specified
People can sue: No
Penalties: The Chapter sets out prohibitions but no penalty or enforcement mechanism in the sections reviewed.
Applies to: Employers in Louisiana, including state and local government units, and their agents
Public and private educational institutions, from nursery schools through universities, testing services, and their agents

Practices it requires

Employers may not request or require an employee or applicant to disclose login credentials to a personal online account, or penalize them for refusing.La. R.S. 51:1953(A)
Educational institutions may not request or require a student or prospective student to disclose login credentials to a personal online account, or penalize them for refusing.La. R.S. 51:1954(A)

Other duties

Employers may require credentials for employer-paid devices and employer accounts, and may investigate specific information about misconduct or unauthorized transfers of proprietary data.La. R.S. 51:1953(B)

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: Effective date assumed to be the default August 1, 2014; history note gives none.

Research reference, not legal advice.