Fraud, plain and simple. Or perhaps, at a minimum, identity theft and misrepresentation.

It seems that there are two issues here:

1. She took matters into her own hands. Bad idea, bad precedent and probably illegal. (I am not a legal eagle so I can't render an opinion that will stick out as insightful and correct.)

2. If she has enough information to put the other person away then why isn't the board acting to push for an indictment against the board member? Corporate board members are entrusted with the highest levels of responsibility in the organization. They drive the direction and approve broad strategies that make or break a company. Too often they aren't held accountable for a companies problems even though they are part of the problem. If they directly contribute to trade secrets or marketing strategies being leaked and it can be proven, then hold them completely accountable, in public, with zero softening up or brushing aside of the issue. There is no benefit in protecting their "wonderful reputation as a distinguished member of the business community and other boards".

I am not a conspiracy theorist but there is a corporate governance issue here and it can't be ignored by HP or any other company. Hold your officers and your board accountable, period.

Company phone records would fall under the same ubmrella as email messages, they are company property. As such there would certainly be individuals within the company who were granted access to those phone records.
I don't see where anything illegal or unethical was done. The unethical act was to leak the information regardless or whether "other companies do it".
I would demand the board member resign AND investigate the possibilty of filing criminal charges.

Nothing unethical?...Not only were company phone records ceased, but so were personal cellphone records. That is clearly a violation of ones right to privacy. Also, Fraudulently imposing as somone else in order to get their otherwise persoanl records is clearly unethical.