Deutsche Telekom’s Spying Ways
It’s always interesting to wonder about the line of decision making that leads to something like this happening . . .
In a case that echoes the corporate spying scandal at Hewlett-Packard, Deutsche Telekom said there had been “severe and far-reaching” misuse of private data involving contacts between board members and reporters.
The disclosure, prompted by a report Saturday on the Web site of the news magazine Der Spiegel, set off a storm of protest from privacy advocates, journalists and labor representatives at the company.
The German government, which effectively controls Deutsche Telekom through a 32 percent stake, demanded a thorough investigation, describing the spying operation as a “serious breach of trust.”
I’m absolutely convinced that given the perceived context, this decision made sense to someone at the time. Now that it’s splashed all over the Internet, it looks much different. People will swing for this, maybe even those that ordered it up, but who’s to say. I can think of many examples where that didn’t happen.
Another reminder that privacy is a 19th century dream.
Tags: DeutscheTelekom, Spying, ethics, decision making
