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Is it Illegal to read other people's email?
So my mother was dropping off something at a desk of a coworkers and saw an email with her name titled on it. There has been some office battles going on and she suspected that the coworker and another worker were taking sides against a coworker my mom is friends with. My mother opened the email and read that they were trying to get the coworker fired and a bunch of other stuff about my mom and some other coworkers who were on my mom's side. My mom forwarded the email to herself (not realizing that it will now show what she did in the sent mail) and is now worried if what she did was illegal. It would be great if I could read exactly where it says this on some law website and by the way we live in california. She realized it was wrong and I was surprised she did that but I guess curiosity and all that. She's not too worried since its a 4 hr 4 day a week job she does for fun since the kids are all grown up and dad brings home the real bacon so getting fired wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Is it still illegal even if she didn't hack into the email since it was open? Thanks I would appreciate some clarity on the issue.
2 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
She didn't break any law, except maybe one; invasion of privacy. Since the email account is probably password-protected (through a mail server, or such), she knowingly accessed the message without regards to the owner's permission. This is the equivalent of someone running into your house on a cool Sunday afternoon and sleeping under your bed for a week (without your permission). Just because you left your door open, doesn't make it right to enter the building. Just because you left your computer on, doesn't make it right to snoop through the emails.
However, this usually comes down to company rules. Since the resources involved belong to a company, the company probably had users sign something, saying that all activity is subject to monitoring blah blah...
If this is in place, then your mother is fine. It's the company's call now. If that lady goes to the CEO about your mother reading the email, and your mother explains her side, the CEO will most-likely side with your mother.
Best of luck.
UPDATE: What the guy above said, is completely false. This is not the reason email is different than letters. Government operated USPS is authorized to send/receive mailings of confidential matters through USPS First Class / Certified / Registered. These mailings are "sealed from inspection," thus making them the only approved mediums for confidential mailings.
Your Yahoo Mail isn't a government-approved vehicle. Neither is your mother's email service provider. When you open a FedEx package, it's much different than opening a first-class letter through the USPS. Keep that in mind. Emails are in NO way related to physical mailings.
Source(s): Life.. - Anonymous1 decade ago
No.
Unlike a letter sent by "snail mail", e-mail can easily be seen as it "goes by", rather like a postcard in the regular mail can, so neither sender nor recipient has any reasonable legal expectation of privacy...