California bill on social media privacy moves forward

California has inched forward in its efforts to protect your passwords for Facebook and other social networking sites from prying colleges and companies.

One of a pair of bills making their way through committees in the state Legislature was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Senate Bill 1349 seeks to prohibit the practice at public and private California colleges and universities. It reads: "A public or private postsecondary educational institution shall not require, or formally request in writing, a student or prospective student to disclose the user name or account password for a personal social media account or to otherwise provide the institution with access to any content of that account." The bill, which has already been approved by the full Senate, moves on to the Assembly Higher Education Committee next week for consideration.