Trend of employers asking for Facebook passwords questioned

The piece identified a disturbing new trend in the workplace: Employers asking for job candidates’ Facebook passwords. Commenters decried the practice. Facebook urged employers against it, and federal lawmakers asked the Justice Department to step in.

But there’s little evidence to suggest the practice is widespread, according to the lead writer of the AP story, Manuel Valdes.

The piece begins with an anecdotal lead about a statistician who withdrew his application for a job after the employer requested his passwords. The story also cites a handful of incidents in which government agencies—primarily in law enforcement and corrections—asked for job applicants’ passwords.