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AnonymousInactiveHP calls spying scandal a ‘wake-up call’
Hewlett-Packard’s
top ethics and privacy executives on Thursday said a now infamous
investigation into boardroom media leaks was a “wake-up call” that
prompted a shakeup in the company’s operations.
The
gaffe’s silver lining is that a host of “tighter processes and
controls” are now in place, said Jonathan Hoak, the company’s chief
ethics and compliance officer, at a luncheon meeting in Washington, DC
with a small group of journalists.For instance, at the end of last
year, the company launched a special programme to screen outside
investigative firms before hiring them to conduct inquiries into
allegations of misconduct by employees or board members, he said. He
described the new process as “broader than putting a phrase in the
contract that says, ‘You won’t use pretexting and you will adhere to
ethics'”. After thorough vetting, HP has cleared a “small number” of
firms on which it believes it can now safely rely, he added.The changes
are a direct response to the brouhaha last year in which HP executives
admitted that outside investigators had used a technique called
“pretexting”, or posing as someone else to obtain phone records of
reporters and board members suspected of involvement in press leaks.
Then-board chairman Patricia Dunn, who ordered the investigation, said
she had been unaware of the technique’s use and called it
“embarrassing”.The high-profile events, which helped spur the enactment
of legislation that specifically criminalises pretexting for telephone
records, signaled gaps in the system that had earned HP a reputation
for high ethical standards, said chief privacy officer Scott Taylor.”It
was not consistent with the values of our company, our privacy policy
and our practices, and it was certainly not consistent with decades of
ethical behaviour,” said Taylor, who was named to the post in June.In
addition to the investigator screening programme, the company is
banking on an emphasis on ethics voiced by the top of its executive
ranks. While addressing the company’s top-ranking 150 people at an
internal conference two weeks ago, HP chief executive Mark Hurd said
one of his top dozen priorities was “building a world-class ethics and
compliance programme”, Hoak said.”I think that wouldn’t have been on
the list a year ago,” said the top ethics officer. He added that he has
traveled to company outposts in countries such as Russia, Hungary and
Romania in recent months to deliver speeches reminding employees of
HP’s corporate values.Hoak acknowledged the stepped-up efforts are not
foolproof.”In the end, you can’t always prevent someone from being a
cowboy,” Hoak said. “You’re always going to have people who are trying
to cut corners, so you’ve got to be vigilant.” -
AuthorMarch 6, 2007 at 10:33 AM
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