Thursday was a good day for personal privacy on the web, at least in California. Governor Jerry Brown signed a new bill into law that makes it illegal for employers to ask employees for their social media accounts passwords. If any employer wants to ask for your Facebook or Twitter password they better do it by the end of the year, because come January 1st this new law will come in effect.
Facebook has publicly denounced such practices by employers as a violation of personal privacy.
Governor Brown also signed a similar law that applies to universities and colleges, essentially making it illegal for them to ask students to disclose their social media passwords. The governor's office was concerned with a growing number of universities snooping into the accounts of their athletes.
The move was announced on all major social media sites including Facebook and Twitter.
Similar legislation has been passed in Illinois and Maryland, and there's even a bill in Congress which has yet to become law.
Source: ArsTechnica
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