Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Charles Schumer have at the federal level. They want the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to see whether demanding employee passwords violates federal law. The senators said they will also draft legislation to protect social media passwords but, so far, they haven't done so.

Employers who snoop on applicants' social media activity don't just violate the user's privacy. As Blumenthal, Schumer, and others have pointed out, employers may learn things about an applicant that they aren't allowed to consider during the hiring process, such as age, religion, marital status, or sexual orientation.

The practice is far too thorny to continue unhindered. It's only a matter of time before its gets completely shot down at the state or federal levels. Kudos to Maryland's lawmakers for quickly taking the first step.

Follow Jared on , or for even more tech news and commentary.