Delaware
Delaware Employee Monitoring Laws: Notice, GPS, and Privacy Rules (2026)
Delaware employers that monitor an employee's phone calls, email, or internet use must give notice under 19 Del. Code § 705, either daily electronic notice or a one-time signed acknowledgment. A separate law, § 709A, bars employers from demanding a personal social media password.
Information last verified on 2026-07-09. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Delaware's employee monitoring notice statute (19 Del. Code § 705), its social media password law (§ 709A), and how they interact with the federal wiretap "ordinary course of business" exception, GPS tracking, workplace video, and biometric time clocks. It does not re-derive Delaware's general call and video recording consent rules; see Delaware Recording Laws for that.
Recording consent and the federal "ordinary course of business" exception
Delaware's employee-monitoring notice statute is separate from the state's general recording consent rules, which involve a two-statute conflict covered in depth at Delaware Recording Laws and its workplace-specific page. This article covers only the employment-specific notice and password layer.
Federal law overlays one more piece. Title I of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act amends the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510 to 2523, to bar intercepting wire, oral, or electronic communications without consent. Section 2511(2)(a)(i) creates an "ordinary course of business" exception: a provider of a wire or electronic communication service, a category courts extend to an employer that owns the phone, email, or computer system, may intercept communications on that system in the ordinary course of business. In Watkins v. L.M. Berry & Co., 704 F.2d 577 (11th Cir. 1983), the court held that once a monitored call is identified as personal rather than business, continued listening can fall outside that exception. A Delaware employer relying on the federal exception still has to independently satisfy § 705's notice duty; the two requirements do not substitute for each other.
When Delaware employers must give notice of monitoring
19 Del. Code § 705 provides that no employer may monitor or intercept an employee's telephone conversations or transmissions, email, or internet access or usage unless the employer satisfies one of two notice mechanisms. The first is electronic notice of the monitoring policy given at least once during each day the employee accesses employer-provided email or internet services. The second is a one-time notice of the monitoring policy or activity, given in writing, in an electronic record, or in another electronic form, and acknowledged by the employee in writing or electronically.
Two exceptions apply. The notice duty does not apply to a law-enforcement officer acting under a court order issued under Title 11, Chapter 24. It also does not apply to automated processes that manage the volume or type of incoming or outgoing email, voicemail, or internet traffic, are not targeted at monitoring a particular individual, and are performed solely for computer system maintenance or protection.
An employer who violates § 705 is subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each violation, and a civil penalty claim may be filed in any Delaware court of competent jurisdiction. That per-violation figure is notably smaller than the escalating $500 to $3,000 penalty structure Connecticut uses for its comparable notice statute, though nothing in § 705 caps the total number of violations that can accrue.
What § 705 does not cover
Section 705's text is limited to telephone conversations or transmissions, email, and internet access or usage. It does not, on its face, reach GPS or vehicle tracking, video surveillance, or biometric monitoring, so an employer that only satisfies § 705's notice requirements for email and internet use has not thereby satisfied any separate notice obligation for a security camera system or a company vehicle tracker, because Delaware has not written one for those categories.
Social media password protections under Delaware law
19 Del. Code § 709A prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting that an employee or applicant disclose a username or password to enable the employer to access personal social media, from requiring that account be accessed in the employer's presence, from requiring social media as a condition of employment, and from requiring the employee to add the employer as a contact or connection or to change privacy settings that affect a third party's ability to view the account.
The statute exempts accounts or devices the employer supplies or pays for, accounts obtained through the employment relationship, or accounts used for the employer's business. An employer may also require disclosure of social media reasonably believed to be relevant to an investigation of employee misconduct or a violation of law or regulation, provided the information is used solely for that investigation or a related proceeding. Employers may also view information about an employee or applicant that is already in the public domain. Section 709A bars retaliation, meaning an employer cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten an employee or applicant for refusing a request that violates the statute.
GPS and vehicle tracking
Delaware has not enacted an employer-specific statute requiring notice before placing a GPS tracker in a company vehicle, unlike New Jersey's dedicated vehicle-tracking notice law. Delaware's general tracking-device statute, 11 Del. C. § 1335(a)(8), makes it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly install an electronic or mechanical location tracking device in or on a motor vehicle without the consent of the registered owner, lessor, or lessee of that vehicle. Because a company that owns or leases its own fleet vehicles is itself the owner or lessee, this owner-consent structure means the statute is not written to reach an employer tracking a vehicle it owns or leases; the exposure the statute is aimed at is someone placing a tracker on a vehicle that belongs to someone else. For the broader tracking-device framework, including how that consent principle plays out in practice, see Delaware GPS Tracking Laws.
Cameras, biometric time clocks, and other limits
The same privacy statute that addresses vehicle trackers, 11 Del. C. § 1335, also makes it a crime to install a camera or recording device in a private place without the consent of the person entitled to privacy there, and separately bars recording someone who is dressing, undressing, or exposed in a fitting room, dressing room, locker room, bathroom, or similar place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Depending on the circumstances, a violation is a class A misdemeanor or a class G felony. This is a criminal statute of general application, not an employment-specific one, but it means an employer's compliance with § 705's telephone, email, or internet notice requirements does not authorize a hidden camera in a space where employees change clothes.
Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14, requires written, informed consent before collecting a fingerprint, hand geometry scan, or other biometric identifier, and gives affected individuals a private right of action with statutory damages. Delaware has not enacted an equivalent statute, so an employer here using a fingerprint or facial-recognition time clock is not currently exposed to BIPA-style litigation risk in the way an Illinois employer would be. Elsewhere, driver-facing camera systems used for fleet safety have produced large Illinois settlements, including Lytx's $4.25 million settlement approved in 2025 over facial geometry data collected from truck drivers without BIPA consent, an example of how safety-monitoring hardware can run into biometric privacy law where such a law exists.
Pro tip: Because § 705's two notice mechanisms are alternatives, an employer only needs to satisfy one, not both. A one-time signed acknowledgment during onboarding is often simpler to document and defend later than relying on a daily electronic notice that must repeat every login.
Frequently asked questions
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Disclaimer
This article presents general legal information about Delaware's employee monitoring notice statute (19 Del. Code § 705), its social media password law (§ 709A), and related federal and state law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and their enforcement are subject to amendment and change. Consult a lawyer licensed in Delaware for advice about a specific workplace monitoring situation. Information last verified: July 9, 2026.
Related articles
- Employee Monitoring Laws by State
- Delaware Recording Laws
- Delaware Workplace Recording Laws
- Delaware GPS Tracking Laws
- Delaware Data Privacy Laws
- US Recording Laws by State
Last updated: 2026-07-09. Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-09.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Delaware require employers to notify employees before monitoring email or internet use?
Yes. 19 Del. Code § 705 requires an employer to either give electronic notice at least once each day the employee accesses employer-provided email or internet services, or to obtain a one-time signed acknowledgment of a written monitoring policy. An exception applies to automated system-maintenance processes not targeted at a particular employee.
What is the penalty for violating Delaware's employee monitoring notice law?
A civil penalty of $100 for each violation, which may be pursued as a civil claim filed in a Delaware court of competent jurisdiction under 19 Del. Code § 705. That is smaller than the escalating penalties Connecticut and New York impose under their comparable statutes.
Can a Delaware employer ask for my social media password?
No, not for a personal account. 19 Del. Code § 709A bars an employer from requiring a username or password for personal social media, except for employer-provided accounts or a good-faith investigation into specific misconduct, and retaliation for refusing an unlawful request is also barred.
Does Delaware's monitoring notice law cover GPS tracking of a company vehicle?
No. Section 705 is limited by its text to telephone, email, and internet monitoring. Delaware has no dedicated employer vehicle-tracking notice statute; its general tracking-device law, 11 Del. C. § 1335(a)(8), requires the vehicle owner's or lessee's consent, which an employer tracking its own fleet vehicle typically has by virtue of ownership.
Can my employer install a hidden camera in a Delaware locker room or restroom?
No. 11 Del. C. § 1335 makes it a crime to record someone without consent while dressing, undressing, or exposed in a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy, including a locker room, fitting room, or restroom, regardless of who installed the camera.
Does Delaware have a biometric privacy law like Illinois?
No. Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act creates a private right of action for collecting a fingerprint or facial scan without consent; Delaware has not enacted an equivalent statute for employer biometric time clocks or similar systems.
Is Delaware a one-party or two-party consent state for workplace recording?
Delaware's general recording consent rules involve a two-statute conflict addressed separately at Delaware Recording Laws. That question is distinct from the § 705 monitoring notice duty and § 709A social media protections covered in this article.
Sources and References
- 19 Del. Code § 705, Notice of monitoring of telephone transmissions, electronic mail and Internet usage(delcode.delaware.gov).gov
- 19 Del. Code § 709A, Employer use of social media(delcode.delaware.gov).gov
- 11 Del. C. § 1335, Violation of privacy; class A misdemeanor; class G felony(delcode.delaware.gov).gov
- 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(a)(i), ordinary course of business exception to the federal Wiretap Act(law.cornell.edu)
- Watkins v. L.M. Berry & Co., 704 F.2d 577 (11th Cir. 1983)(openjurist.org)
- Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14(ilga.gov).gov