PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 12, 2015
Password Protection Act of 2015
Amends the federal criminal code to subject to a fine any employer who knowingly and intentionally:
compels or coerces any person to provide the employer with a password or similar information to access a protected computer not owned by such employer; or
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
discharges, disciplines, discriminates, or threatens to take such actions, against any person who fails to authorize access to such computer, has filed a complaint or instituted a proceeding regarding such action, or testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to grant equitable relief in a civil action, if the court believes that the information sought to be obtained is relevant to protecting the intellectual property, a trade secret, or confidential business information of the party seeking relief.
Exempts an employer's actions from such prohibition if:
the employer discharges or disciplines an individual for good cause;
the employer complies with federal or state laws or regulations governing brokers, dealers, and investment advisers;
a state enacts a law that specifically waives such prohibition with respect to a particular class of state or agency employees and the employer's action relates to an employee in such class; or
an executive agency, military department, or other executive branch entity specifically waives the prohibition with respect to a particular class of employees who may have access to classified information.
People & committees
Rep. Perlmutter, Ed [D-CO-7] · D–CO
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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