Stateline MIdwest ~ October 2012

Iowa will issue driver’s licenses and state identification cards next year that meet the initial security standards set out under the federal government’s REAL ID program. According to the Quad City Times, all new driver’s license applicants will be given Iowa’s new cards. Individuals with existing licenses will not have to make the switch.

Stateline Midwest

Illinois lawmakers have added a layer of privacy protection for workers by forbidding employers from requesting information that would give them access to an individual’s social-networking account.

House Rep. Jeffrey Thompson of Louisiana's District 8 recently sponsored House Bill 249, the first bill in the nation to require sex offenders and child predators to identify themselves as such on any social networking site they use.

An important rule of thumb when communicating online is that nothing is ever truly private.  Anything you post, such as private message or emails, can be screen-captured and posted online as images.  Anything you put online could live forever even if you try to delete it.  The Anthony Weiner case is a classic example. 

While social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can give policymakers and candidates for public office important tools to communicate with constituents and voters, they also can present numerous pitfalls to avoid.  That was one of the messages for participants in the Social Media Boot Camp session last week at The Council of State Governments’ National Leadership Conference in La Quinta, Calif.