Law / United States / 
Wisconsin
Wisconsin restrictions on educational institution access to students' personal Internet accounts
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
What it requires
- If you are an educational institution (an institution of higher education, a technical college, a public, charter or private school, or a private educational testing service or administrator), do not request or require a student or prospective student, as a condition of admission or enrollment, to disclose access information for the student's personal Internet account, or otherwise to grant access to or allow observation of that account (Wis. Stat. sec. 995.55(3)(a)1.).
- Do not expel, suspend, discipline or otherwise penalize a student for refusing, and do not refuse to admit a prospective student because the prospective student refused (Wis. Stat. sec. 995.55(3)(a)2. and 3.).
- You may still require a student to disclose access information to gain access to or operate an electronic communications device you supplied or paid for in whole or in part, or to gain access to an account or service you provide, that the student obtained by virtue of admission or that is used for educational purposes, and you may view information about a student that is available without access information or in the public domain (Wis. Stat. sec. 995.55(3)(b)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
No educational institution may request or require a student or prospective student, as a condition of admission or enrollment, to disclose access information for the student's personal Internet account or otherwise to grant access to or allow observation of that account. An educational institution may not expel, suspend, discipline or otherwise penalize a student for refusing, and may not refuse to admit a prospective student because the prospective student refused.
Educational institution means an institution of higher education, a technical college, a public school, a charter school, a private school or a private educational testing service or administrator, among others. A personal Internet account is an Internet-based account created and used by an individual exclusively for purposes of personal communications.
The restrictions do not prohibit an institution from requiring a student to disclose access information to gain access to or operate an electronic communications device the institution supplied or paid for in whole or in part, or to gain access to an account or service the institution provides, that the student obtained by virtue of admission or that is used for educational purposes.
Nor do they prohibit viewing, accessing or using information about a student that can be obtained without access information or that is in the public domain. Nothing in the section creates a duty for an educational institution to search or monitor the activity of any personal Internet account. A person who violates the restrictions may be required to forfeit not more than $1,000.
A student penalized, or a prospective student not admitted, in violation of them may file a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development. The section was created by 2013 Wisconsin Act 208, enacted and published .
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