phone hacking

American  

noun

1. an act or instance of gaining access to a phone's voicemail, email, text messages, etc., without authorization from the phone's owner.

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Other Word Forms

• phone hacker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of phone hacking

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phone hacking

Judge Matthew Nicklin dismissed claims that reporters and investigators working for the Daily Mail had engaged in phone hacking and unlawful information gathering, in a ruling by the High Court Tuesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Sherborne suggested the newspaper had been unable to challenge the complaint because the information had been obtained through phone hacking and the true source could not be revealed.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

There, he answered questions about the paper's use of private investigators to obtain information, and claimed there was no evidence of phone hacking.

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026

Last year, on the eve of another scheduled trial, Rupert Murdoch's UK tabloid publisher NGN agreed to pay him "substantial damages" for privacy breaches, including phone hacking.

From Barron's ● Jan. 21, 2026

The nascent electrical engineers responsible for building and maintaining this system saw their activity as similar in spirit to phone hacking.

From Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams