Gov. Jerry Brown tweets that he signed social media privacy bills

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Gov. Jerry Brown has signed twin bills prohibiting universities and employers from requiring that applicants give up their email or social media account passwords, making the announcement, appropriately, on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace.

State officials are concerned that some businesses and university managers have started asking for the passwords, in some cases to check the background of job applicants. In the case of universities, some coaches have asked athletes for access to Facebook accounts to make sure their players are not getting into trouble.

‘California pioneered the social media revolution. These laws protect Californians from unwarranted invasions of their social media accounts,’’ Brown tweeted. He later announced it with a press release.

Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) authored SB 1349, arguing that having universities request passwords is an ‘unacceptable invasion of personal privacy’’ because students often post personal information, including their religion and sexual orientation, on social networking sites.

Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose) authored AB 1844, which prohibits an employer from requiring or requesting an employee or applicant for a job from disclosing a user name or password for the purpose of accessing personal social media.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento