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Verizon Employees Fired For Snooping Obama's Record

longhairedgnome writes "The curiosity in President-elect Barack Obama's phone records came with a high price tag for Verizon Wireless employees. According to CNN, the workers who snooped on Obama's phone records have been fired. 'This was some employees' idle curiosity,' a company source told CNN and added 'we now consider this matter closed.' Justice served? What about legal possibilities?" Can we expect anyone who followed a warrantless wiretap from the Bush administration to also be fired then? I mean, they violated our privacy as well.

14 of 344 comments (clear)

  1. No. by Penguinoflight · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's becoming increasingly clear that only celebrities and criminals have the right to privacy.

    --
    "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
    1 John 4:14
    1. Re:No. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think you mean politicans and criminals.

      Same thing.

    2. Re:No. by R2.0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think it's clear that Obama is doing the best he can to not be a criminal, excluding lobbyists from his administration for example. Maybe give the guy a chance before you call him an outlaw? Jeez....

      Are you kidding? We berate ALL politicians here - why does Obama get a pass?

      Oh, I forgot - he's for Change. And apparently was born without original sin...

      --
      "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  2. Privacy by mfh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The article says that the employees did not access the "contents of the calls"... wait does that mean that Verizon has stored electronic recordings, or transcripts?!?! of all of Obama's calls?!?!

    Or does this mean that Verizon does not store that information? And who here believes them?

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  3. Was encouraged to do this in credit card industry by shawnmchorse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work doing telephone customer service for First USA Bank. In our training class, they actually encouraged us to look up the accounts of random celebrities. My whole class would come up with names and type them in to see if they had an account with us. We'd also frequently show each other particularly bad credit reports that came up on applications.

  4. How many? by evanbd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apparently it's pretty easy to snoop on a random person's phone records over there. How many employees have snooped on someone less noteworthy -- a friend, a possibly cheating spouse, etc.? Are there policies in place to catch more mundane privacy invasions and fire those people as well, or does it only matter if the person in question is politically relevant?

  5. Re:National security and terrorists by Xtravar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you ask John McCain, he'll tell you that Obama pals around with terrorists. Perhaps this was a case of national security!

    --
    Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
  6. Well, Obama voted for FISA. by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Obama voted for FISA after saying he wouldn't. He and his cronies really don't have any room to complain. Why should Obama be able to snoop on "the people" when "the people" cannot snoop on him? Obama is potentially (being president at all) the most dangerous man in the nation as he is Commander-In Chief and probably the most powerful man in the world.

    I'm not saying there shouldn't be any military secrets or stuff, of course, but the irony is just rather amusing.

  7. Re:Justice Served by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, you can expect President Bush to be fired for ordering the wiretap.

    Unfortunately, we can't expect people like Nancy Pelosi - who has always been fully briefed on such things - to be fired for being such a hypocrite about it.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  8. Re:Justice Served by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

    (keep your friends close, and your enemies closer).

    What if your enemies have FUCKING SWORDS?

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  9. Re:Justice Served by AmericanGladiator · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, you can expect President Bush to be fired for ordering the wiretap.

    No, you can expect President Bush to be fired because his term is over and it's time for him to GTFO. The Republicans were fired by the American people, although most of them hold key positions near Obama (keep your friends close, and your enemies closer).

    I would expect you to complain about Obama now, too. He voted in favor of extending the warrantless wiretapping legislation when in the Senate. I would expect him to continue the status quo. If you don't rail against him I would infer you care less about privacy and more about your favorite politician.

  10. Not where I work, and not me... by rickb928 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm at a major financial institution. technically, I have fairly broad access to records that could include payment and credit information, personal information, and even a great deal of info on the places people shop.

    It would not only not occur to me to look up someone's records just because they are a celeb etc, but if I had a case involving a recognizable person or business, I would be very careful and keep my inquiries to a minimum. I would expect our security teams to be watching accesses to any number of accounts.

    And I wouldn't be whining if in a moment of weakness I went too far. There are some things you just don't do. Someone is watching. Count in it.

    I also know a few people who provide services or support to the sort of customer you would consider a person of note. We don't discuss anything of a sensitive nature, though I offer them congratulations when I recognize they did something exceptional for a customer that made our newsletter. If we are working on issues that disclose sensitive data, I just work the issue and keep my comments to myself. And I secure any data I work with temporarily, destroying it when I don't need it any more.

    Seems incredibly stupid, on a par with the ID10Ts looking through Britney's medical records not so long ago. I hope these VZW ex-employees find work, but perhaps a stint at McDonalds will give them the proper perspective on privacy. An expensive lesson, and one earned from the sounds of it.

    There is no excuse.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  11. Re:Justice Served by aaandre · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Being a hypocrite is a requirement of the job. Being caught committing illegal activities should get someone fired, though. Polititians being above the laws of the people is at the core of corruption and lack of accountability. Leads us back into monarchy, where the King's word is law and the King is above the law.

    Who keeps the government accountable? One minute of choice every four or so years certainly does not work very well.

  12. Re:Cluster B personality disorders by BlackCobra43 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hi! Stand back in awe as my completly unverifiable anecdotal evidence trumps your generalization!

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