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Nov. 22, 2008

According to CEO Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless has placed several employees on leave for illegally accessing President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account.

In a statement, McAdam said the company learned of the unauthorized access on Nov. 18 and took immediate action.

The mobile device on the account, which has been inactive for several months, was described by McAdam as a “simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.”

“Whether authorized or not, all Verizon employees who have accessed the account have been put on immediate leave, but with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee’s access to the account are determined individually, the company will take appropriate actions,” McAdam said.

Verizon Wireless didn't say how many employees viewed Obama’s account or how many times a day or in a week.

The Obama-Biden transition team declined to publicly comment on the incident. But Verizon Wireless notified transition officials Friday about the privacy breach in advance of issuing a press release late Friday.

McAdam said employees that accessed Obama’s account for legitimate purposes will be returned to their previous positions. Employees who accessed the account improperly or without authorization will face appropriate disciplinary action.

During the election season, Obama's campaign used Verizon Wireless as its main wireless provider.

According to campaign finance reports, the campaign spent more than $1 million on wireless services provided by Verizon Wireless. The campaign used text messaging to reach potential voters and also had a Web site available for mobile users.

“We sincerely apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day,” McAdam said.

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Source: Verizon Wireless.