The Hewlett-Packard board used pretexting to spy on a board member who was leaking information to the business press, and as the Washington Post reports (click headline), a law firm used a consulting firm to illegally obtain a partner's phone records using pretexting. Pretexting is misrepresenting a phone company's customer to get to that person's phone records.
Home owners association boards often are scenes of acrimony and distrust, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them have hired "consultants" to spy on fellow board members for one reason or another.
This is unethical, no matter the reason.
An HOA board member is an elected member of a board and has the right to say anything he or she wants to, subject to being sued by the board or other offended parties after committing the misdead. And that's one point. If a person on the board is misbehaving, the board should remove that person by vote or a recall election or call in the attorneys. No one should use illegal or unethical tactics to get back at someone they disagree with.
In the HP case, a board member acted unethically in leaking confidential information from the press. That board member has resigned and probably will never be asked to serve on another board.
When you join a board, you make a commitment to work for the better interest of the organization and to work through channels. You commit to keeping information confidential that the board deems confidential unless you see wrong doing. If you see wrong doing, you call the organization's attorneys and go to your constituency during the next election.
For HOA boards, not much should be kept confidential from members. If you have direct employees, you make personnel decisions in executive sessions. But you ultimately should make all contracts and salaries public so that all home owners can inspect them, if they wish. If an employee or vendor objects, they can leave. Secrecy has no place in local government, and HOAs are the ultimate in local government.
