Senate Passes Bill to Criminalize Pretexting

The Senate passed legislation last night that would make it a federal crime to obtain a person’s telephone records without permission, an act known as pretexting. The New York Times reports.

"The measure imposes a fine of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years for duping telephone companies into divulging the calling records of private individuals."

The support for the legislation comes in the aftermath of the spying scandal at Hewlett-Packard, the computer giant. The company, eager to ferret out purported leaks to journalists from within its board, used private detective firms to retrieve phone records of directors, managers and journalists."

emily | 4:18 PM | News, Buzz |
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