WASHINGTON - US TELEPHONE operator Verizon Wireless has acknowledged that some of its employees accessed President-elect Barack Obama's mobile phone records without authorisation.

'This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorisation, accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account,' the company said in a statement released late on Thursday.

'All employees who have accessed the account - whether authorised or not - have been put on immediate leave, with pay,' Verizon said.

As an investigation determines the circumstances under which each employee accessed the records, those who opened them improperly 'will face appropriate disciplinary action,' it said.

'We apologise to President-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day.' The company which claims nearly 71 million customers said the Obama account had been inactive for months, and that no e-mails or other data was accessed as the phone was a flip-phone and not a so-called smartphone.

The security breach was revealed as reports have emerged that Mr Obama, characterised as an avid Blackberry user, would likely be forced to give up his smartphone before he becomes president due to security concerns.

In March Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, at the time locked in a battle for the Democratic Party nomination, learned that their passport files were improperly accessed by employees in the US State Department. Mr Obama described the violation as 'deeply disturbing.' Two State Department contractors were fired over the incident. –– AFP

Quoted:
Meh... after the stunts that his cronies pulled with Joe the Plumber and others, I really could care less what records of his gets accessed.

Quoted:
So Ms. Cleo was contacted about a Cabinet Post?