Why did the phone companies release the phone records of HP board members?

Question

According to this recent story http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/06/PM200609061.html, private investigators were able to examine the phone records of HP board members (apparently without their permission).

The thrust of the story seems to be that you can get someone else's phone records if you know their social security number.

It that's true, I'd like to know what recourse we have to prevent it happening to us!

Does anyone else feel afraid about this loss of privacy, and if so, what should be done about it?

The story implies the investigator's actions were illegal, yet I don't see any recourse for the victims of the snooping.

Answer 1

The HP P.I.'s claimed to be the people for whom they were getting the records. You can call the phone company and have your account password-protected, meaning that no one can make changes to or get records for your account without knowing the password.