Password Protection Act of 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
• 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.