A bipartisan group of senators and representatives introduced the “Password Protection Act” in both houses of Congress today. This is a second federal legislative attempt (the first one was just two weeks ago!) to halt the practice of employers requiring employees or job applicants to disclose their accounts on social media websites.

The new bill prevents employers from accessing information on a computer or device that isn’t “owned or controlled by an employee.” It includes exceptions for certain public sector workers (notably those who work in national security and the military) and employees who work with children under the age of 13.

The bill tells employers they may not compel or coerce "any person to authorize access, such as by providing a password or similar information through which a computer may be accessed, to a protected computer that is not the employer’s protected computer, and thereby obtains information from such protected computer.” If they do, employers may be subject to a $10,000 fine.

The new bills appear to be a direct result of senatorial inquiry that came in the wake of an article published by the Associated Press earlier this year, which outlined the practice among dozens of law enforcement agencies around the country. Facebook later decried the practice, and said it may try to sue such employers.

For now, civil libertarian and privacy groups appear to be generally on-board with the new bills, saying that they are a step in the right direction.

“This bill creates a necessary framework for guarding privacy in the 21st century,” said Christopher Calabrese, ACLU legislative counsel, in a statement.

“While the legislation contains some problematic exceptions, it does establish clear, bright boundaries when it comes to what online information our bosses can access. Employers have no business snooping on their employees’ Facebook pages, private e-mail accounts and smart phones. Passing the Password Protection Act would be a major step toward ensuring they can’t. We’ll work with the sponsors to extend these protections to students and eliminate some problematic exceptions.”