As privacy probe widens, Hewlett-Packard chairman says she'll resign
As a probe into Hewlett-Packard's use of private phone records widened, Chairman Patricia Dunn announced today she would step down next year. Current Chief Executive Mark Hurd will take over.
The FBI and Congress have waded into the probe of the company's attempt to identify a source of media leaks from its board. After Dunn's resignation was announced, board member George Keyworth also said he would quit. Keyworth has been the focus of the leak investigation.
In a statement, Dunn said she was sorry for the methods the company used, which "included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologize that they were employed."
The new federal scrutiny of the company follows that of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the California attorney general, who have questioned HP's use of "pretexting" (misrepresenting identity) to obtain private phone records. The company's investigators used employees' Social Security numbers to impersonate HP directors and journalists, to get phone companies to turn over logs of employees' and journalists' personal phone calls.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer of computers and printers to hand over records as part of its larger probe into violations of privacy. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said the company violated two state laws related to identity theft and illegal access to computer records. However, it still has not been determined whether the company or its outside investigators will face civil or criminal charges.
Dunn ordered the outside investigation of the HP employees in January, after internal board deliberations about former board Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina were leaked to the press.
Dunn was No. 17 on Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful women last year.
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