In 2006 Newsweek revealed that Hewlett-Packard chairperson Patricia Dunn had hired private detectives to find the source of a boardroom leak. Now the four private detectives who undertook that investigation have been fined a total of $600,000 for their illegal tactics.
They used a technique known as pretexting in order to obtain the phone records of a number of journalists and board members. Pretexting involves deceiving the phone companies into believing that the record request actually comes from the bill payer concerned, which violates the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
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The revelations by Newsweek led to Dunn and HP’s general legal counsel, Ann Baskins, losing their jobs. The latest fines would appear to close the book on the case.
