Can You See Our President-Elect's Phone Records Now? Good.

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 21, 2008 5:25PM

Oh, Verizon. Aside from providing me with a last-second Halloween costume idea every year, you've always been benign. Well, until this big no-no. It seems some nosy employees at Verizon accessed Barack Obama's cell phone records, though no voicemails or emails were accessed. Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam issued an apology statement, saying:

We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day...a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account...All employees who have accessed the account — whether authorized or not — have been put on immediate leave, with pay. 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.

It appears the records that were hacked were connected to a simple flip-phone on an account that's been inactive for months, and is not related to Obama's beloved Blackberry, which is getting almost as much press as the potential Obama dog.

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak