[Vision2020] I don't understand

[lfalen]

There is no difference. Unless there is reasonable cause to suspect a crime and it is authorized by a judge, it is a crime.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Art Deco" deco at moscow.com
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:03:07 -0800
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] I don't understand

> Forget that the victim is Obama.  But if you or I accessed someone's Verizon account, we'd be open to having criminal charges filed against us.  What's the difference between an unauthorized Verizon employee accessing an account and you or I accessing that account?  Why isn't Verizon asking for criminal charges?  This certainly reduces my confidence in Verizon's protecting my personal data.
> 
> W.
> 
> 
> 
> Verizon Staff Viewed Obama's Account
> 
> By Cecilia Kang
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Friday, November 21, 2008; A08
> 
> 
> 
> Verizon Wireless said last night that a number of its employees have "accessed and viewed" President-elect Barack Obama's personal cellphone account without authorization.
> 
> The company said all employees who accessed the account -- whether they were authorized to or not -- were immediately put on leave with pay. The firm said it was evaluating the circumstances of each employee's access to the account to determine appropriate action, including disciplinary proceedings.
> 
> "We apologize to President-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day," chief executive Lowell McAdam said in a statement.
> 
> Verizon spokesman Jeffrey Nelson declined to comment beyond the company's prepared statement and wouldn't specify how many employees saw the account or what kind of information was viewed.
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> The breech of personal data comes as some security experts question whether Obama, who used the Web as a central part of his campaign strategy, should for security purposes stop using devices to transfer e-mail and other data when he becomes president.
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> The account has been inactive for several months, Verizon said. Obama's phone was a flip-phone as opposed to a Blackberry or other smartphone device that is better suited for heavy e-mail and other data services, Verizon said.
> 
> While the company wouldn't elaborate on what kind of data was viewed on Obama's account, it could include calling and billing records.
> 
> Verizon will soon become the nation's largest wireless carrier after completing its merger with Alltel.
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>