Hewlett-Packard obtained phone records of nine journalists

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting Friday that Hewlett-Packard obtained the phone records of nine business journalists during its investigation into its board members to determine who was leaking information to reporters.

Four of the reporters have been identified. They are Dawn Kawamoto and Tom Krazit of Cnet, an online publication in San Francisco that covers the technology industry, John Markoff of the New York Times and Pui Wing Tam of the Wall Street Journal.

Reporter Verne Kopytoff wrote, “According to Cnet, on Jan. 30 an individual used the last four digits of Kawamoto’s husband’s Social Security number to create an online account with AT&T, the telephone company, and get the phone records. The phone is under her husband’s name, and she never authorized that the information be shared, according to Cnet.

“A week earlier, Kawamoto and Krazit had written an article about a private meeting of Hewlett-Packard’s board in which members talked about the company’s long-term strategy. The article, which relied on an anonymous source for much of the information, led Hewlett-Packard’s chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, to call for an investigation of her company’s board to uncover the source of the leak.”

CNET issued a statement criticizing the company’s actions. Read more here.