Washington - President Bush has signed into law a bill that outlaws "pretexting," or the fraudulent or unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of confidential phone records.

The Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006, signed into law on Friday, will provide up to 10 years in prison for anyone who impersonates someone else or uses other tactics in an attempt to access phone records.

An exemption was made for pretexting conducted by law enforcement or intelligence agencies.

The new law comes in the wake of a scandal at Hewlett-Packard where executives hired investigators to use pretexting to obtain phone records of board members and journalists, in an effort to identify the source of boardroom leaks to the media.

Related Links:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070112-6.html
http://tinyurl.com/2kw8a8 (CNET)