Reasons abound for security protocol surrounding cell phone records at the major carriers. Consumers just don't like hearing about privacy breaches. But as the presidential office moves into the wired age, for the first time a President-elect is a red flag going off in Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ)'s face.A personal cell phone account owned by Barack Obama (but that has been inactive for several months) was confirmed to have been accessed by "several" of Verizon's employees -- all of whom have been placed on administrative paid leave pending an internal investigation into which did so for a good reason.
While it's easy to imagine the thrill that might accompany viewing the phone calls of the President-elect (how many minutes to that number in Chappaqua, New York in June?), it's also easy to imagine the potential damage that could arise from such illegal access, both to Obama (or any candidate) and to the trust the public places in its cell phone carriers. Verizon is right to have taken action and made the news public; but the company should have put more preventative measures in place to ensure its sensitive customers' data was secure.
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