Verizon Wireless: Workers Breached Obama Phone Records

First warrantless wiretapping, and now this! Verizon Wireless yesterday issued a statement revealing that some of its employees had, without its authorization, accessed the personal wireless phone records of President-elect Barack Obama. The wireless company said Obama’s transition team was yesterday notified of the breach.

A statement issued by Verizon Wireless indicated the breach involved a voice-only account, which is no longer in use by Obama, as opposed to a voice/data device, indicating e-mail was not involved. The company said that it is investigating whether the information accessed by Verizon Wireless employees was shared internally only or shared with individuals outside the company and that employees involved in the breach have been put on immediate leave, with pay.

“As the circumstances of each individual employee’s access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions,” Verizon Wireless president and CEO Lowell McAdam was quoted as saying in a statement released by the service provider. “Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.”

“We apologize to President-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day,” the statement from McAdam concluded.

Some reports on this matter have indicated that the breach involved employees viewing Obama’s billing records, which of course would reveal what calls he made and when. Apparently there’s no criminal investigation of the matter at this time.

While this matter appears to be a case of a few curious telephone company employees accessing account information without authorization, for many it brings to mind concerns about communications companies acting as “big brother.” As has been widely reported, Verizon Communications Inc., which with Vodafone owns Verizon Wireless, as well as AT&T Inc., were outed for doing warrantless wiretapping on behalf of the Bush administration. In July, the U.S. Senate voted to give the two telcos immunity from the warrantless wiretapping charges.

Obama, at that time the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and an Illinois senator, voted for the bill. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), voted against it. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee for president, was campaigning at the time and didn’t vote on the matter.

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