The California Senate passed a bill on May 2 that would require social networking websites to take down personal information upon request or face a $10,000 fine.

SB 501 would allow any user to ask a social networking website to remove personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers or birthdays within four days. The bill also allows parents or legal guardians of minors to issue similar requests.

“This bill is designed to protect individuals, including minors, from criminal acts, including identity theft, stalking, kidnapping and assault,” Sen. Ellen Corbett, the bill’s author, told the Los Angeles Times.

Many social networks including Facebook, Google, Zynga and Tumblr have opposed the bill because it goes against the freedom of speech and privacy rights of users who are younger than 18.

Baowen Huang, a 19-year-old chemistry major, said when she first joined a social network at 14 she had no idea what she was agreeing to or that the information she gave out would be sent to advertisers.

“It would be a good idea to have all personal information erased,” Huang said.

Jessica Norris, 21, a child development major, said, “Everything that we post should be private under the age of 18. Even after the age of 18 things should be hidden.”

Norris was 13 years old when she started using social media. She said it was important to her to keep some things private because she felt not everyone needed to know the details of her activities.

“Internet privacy should be taken seriously,” Nathan Ruiz, 21, a speech communications major, said.

Ruiz said he felt he had no control of what he posted online because technology has become so broad and posts are no longer private, allowing advertisers and other users to take whatever information he publishes and use it as they want.

Ruiz said that social media was new when he first joined. At that time, no one realized what effect social media would have when it came to the privacy of others.