Employee Facebook privacy bill advances in Colo.

Facebook profiles and other social-media accounts are closer to legal privacy protections in Colorado.

A Democratic House committee voted 11-0 Tuesday to bar most employers from requiring access to their worker’s personal accounts.

The bill does not prohibit companies from looking at Facebook pages or punishing employees for what they post on their personal sites. But the bill prohibits required password disclosure of personal accounts.

In their effort to vet job applicants, some companies have started asking for passwords to log into a prospective employee’s accounts on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Critics call it an invasion of privacy.

Colorado’s bill was amended to exempt law enforcement agencies. The measure awaits one more committee vote before it’s considered by the full House.