California university students and state employees will soon have their social media accounts protected under new legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed today.
“The Golden State is pioneering the social media revolution and these laws will protect all Californians from unwarranted invasions of their personal social media accounts,” Brown said in a statement.
Starting in Jan. 2013, Assembly Bill 1844 and Senate Bill 1349 will prohibit postsecondary schools and employers from asking students, job applicants and employees to provide their usernames and passwords for personal accounts, the Bruin reported in June.
SB 1349 is designed to stop a growing trend of colleges and universities from looking at student social media accounts, particularly those of student athletes, according to the statement released by Brown’s office.
UCLA does not rely on social network background checks during the hiring process, officials have said in the past.
Under the new law, institutions retain the right to investigate or punish student misconduct if needed.
Compiled by Katherine Hafner, Bruin senior staff.