Obama's Cell Phone Records Looked At By Verizon Workers

WASHINGTON — Verizon employees snuck a peek at President-elect Barack Obama's old cell phone records and will be reprimanded accordingly, the company said late Thursday.

Obama aides said no voicemails or e-mails were accessed.

In a statement, Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam apologized to Obama and disclosed the breach, saying: "a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account."

He said the account has been inactive for several months and Obama had been using a simple voice flip-phone without email capabilities.

"All employees who have accessed the account _ whether authorized or not _ have been put on immediate leave, with pay," McAdam said. "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."

Comments

[ElectroJones]

Fire, sue and prosecute. That way no one else will ever get this bright idea in the future.

[carallen]

Fire them immediately. Nosey morons, no idea how lucky they are to even have jobs right now. Careless.

[oldleftcoastdude]

WITH PAY???????. What's wrong with this picture??

[KeepMeLearning]

Everything. They should all be fired. Immediately.

[Happym]

Well to me it seems as though Verizons President had more of a problem with it then President-elect Obama. He didn't even know, the company is the one who let him know that their employees were looking at his records. Anywho they should be fired regardless of who the person was they were snooping on.

[LDS50]

This has nothing to do with FISA. Employees always have access to company records, so internal rules need to be in place, with consequences for rule breakers. In healthcare, there is HIPPA, which allows for snooping employees to be terminated. Employers always suspend with pay before they sort it out. Don't want violators to remain at work and cause damage, and don't want to risk a lawsuit if they are found to be innocent.

[WilliamBudd]

Join the club, Barack.
Everyone in America can have their records checked, conversations monitored or phones tapped for any reason or no reason at all.
Bush's new America.
Land of the Free (from any reasonable right of privacy or expectation thereof)

[Ty90]

Well, the President's records should definitely be kept private.

[MossyOak]

So should ours.

[LDS50]

It's the same as the healthcare workers who look at Brittney Spears records - stupid curiosity. Maybe someone put them up to it, but they were probably just being nosy. Electronic trails are so easy to follow. Snoopers should be fired.

[geneven]

Hey, I worked for an alarm security company and looked at Madonna's security info. It's hard to resist.

"We people on the pavement looked at him," to quote a classic American poet, I think it was Edward Arlington Robinson, whose poem also made it into a Simon and Garfunkle song.

[bigfated]

Hey, geneven: you're right. It was E.A. Robinson..­..speaking of Richard Cory----who went home and shot himself to death!

[cheferic]

no 4th amendment after the FISA bill -that's what you get -we can all get spied upon now even the president elect,only when you are in the executive branch are you then above EVERYTHING.

[klandish]

I have a Verizon cell phone and when the contract is up I'm Through with them. I wonder how Obama feels about letting FISA passing now?

[zippitydoo]

I'm sure verizon won't care!
As for how Obama feels?
You have a little homework to do and your assignment is:
Read the FISA bill
Read a Verizon employee handbook

This should clarify how he feels about the two having absolutely nothing to do with each other.

[klandish]

Sounds like you work for Verizon. They were named as the one of the companies that the Bush Administration used to illegally spy on cell phone users. Does it talk about the in Verizon handbook?

[Sunshine85]

Me and you both my friend. I wouldn't be surprised if they lose a lot of customers.

[STUPIDgit]

I switched to Credo from Sprint a few months back (out of frustration after the FISA bill was passed) and have been super-happy with them. They actually have people answer the phones. Their service is helpful, prompt (only been put on hold once) and their rates are reasonable.

The connection is great - even when traveling in the Bahamas or Caribbean. Their selection of phones is small and they offer no Blackberry's or iPhones though so if you need specialty phones you're out of luck with them.

The best part though, is 1% of every dime you pay them is donated to progressive charities. All paper bills are on recycled paper with evironmentally friendly ink. And, it's easy to do "paperless" bill pay too.

[hamchunk]

What's the big deal? Wouldn't you all want to know that, at $10.00 a minute, Ms. Cleo is his new National Security Advisor?

[jorge4u]

You are so wrong. Ms. Cleo is Nancy Reagan's advisor.

[nochange]

oh well He shouldnt have voted for the fisa bill

[hortonhearsawho]

Any extra minutes left over?

[gditty]

Bizzaro world:

Verizon employees get a paid vacation for breaching personal phone records. What do employees receive for not breaching phone records? Fired?

[scorpioleidy]

So they've been "put on immediate leave---with pay"? Sounds like a nice vacation to me - where is the punishment??? They get to sleep in, not go to work AND get paid??? Must be nice ...

[MsLiz]

"All employees who have accessed the account _ whether authorized or not _ have been put on immediate leave, with pay," McAdam said. "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."

Translation: We can tell who looked at the account. Until we know the reason (or lack of reason) the employee looked at the account, no one is being denied a paycheck. Employees who can show a legitimate reason to look at a closed account will keep his/her job. All others will be penalized.

[11907281]

Ya, some of us have the kind of jobs that hold you accountable and don't reward criminal activity.

[breezyholler]

COMPLETE INSANITY ....IT'S AN EPIDEMIC !!!!

[geneven]

Well, but they miss their cruise ship vacation later in the year.

[LetterLover]

Hmmm, "immediate leave, with pay," isn't that also known as a vacation . . . ?

[andvoodoo2]

Yes.