Invasion of privacy

[PATRICK212]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CALIFORNIA

THIS QUESTION IS RATHER CONVOLUTED AS I AM CERTAIN MANY QUESTIONS ASKED ON THIS FORUM ARE. THE POINT IS ONE OF PRIVACY CONCERNING EMAIL

I AM A MARRIED MAN WHO HAS BEEN SEEING A WOMAN WHO IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A DIVORCE PROCEDING. WE HAVE WRITTEN EMAIL BACK AND FORTH AND HAVE EXPRESSED OUR FEELING FOR ONE ANOTHER.

THE HUSBAND OF THE WOMAN I AM DATING WENT INTO HER EMAIL WITH OUT HER PERMISSION. HE COPIED THE EMAILS AND PUT THEM IN HIS EMAIL ADDRESS FOLDER.

HE THEN CALLED HIS WIFE AND TOLD HER THAT IF SHE DOES NOT STOP SEEING ME, HE WAS GOING TO CALL MY WIFE.

UPON HEARING THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER IF I TALKED TO MY WIFE AND TOLD HER OF MY INFIDELITY.

WE ARE NOW LIVING IN SEPARATE HOMES.


THE HUSBAND THEN CONTACTED MY WIFE AND THEY EXCHANGED INFORMATION INCLUDING THE EMAILS THAT WERE SENT FROM ME AND HIS WIFE. MY WIFE HAS FORWARDED THESE EMAILS TO EVERYONE WHO EVER KNEW ME.

MY QUESTION IS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WHAT LAW OR STATUTE GOVERNS PERSONAL EMAILS AND DOES THE HUSBAND HAVE THE RIGHT TO COPY THE EMAILS BETWEEN HIS WIFE AND ME ? IS THERE ANY ACTION THAT I CAN TAKE IN REPRISAL FOR HIS ACTIONS?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

PATRICK J. SHEEHAN

[quincy]

Emails are not, for the most part, considered a private means of communication. If an emailed message is meant to remain confidential, encrypting the message can help ensure the contents remain private.

There are federal laws that prohibit the interception of emails and the reading of emails in an ISP's storage (see Titles I and II of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC sections 2510-2521 and 2701-2711), but the law gives very little protection to the privacy of emails sent or stored on either a workplace computer or on a personal computer.

And, where email contains evidence of criminal activity, there is no protection given for confidentiality - regardless of the circumstances.

There have been some cases where Plaintiffs have claimed copyright infringement, when their emails have been copied and sent to others or published. These cases are based on an early court decision (J.D. Salinger v Random House, Inc.; 811 F.2d 90; 2nd Circ 1987) which had Salinger argue successfully that the copyright of a letter remains with the sender, and the recipient only has the right to the one copy physically received. Copyright law protects against the unauthorized reproduction, distribution and use of another's copyrighted work.

Authors of personal correspondence, therefore (whether in letter or in email form), hold property rights in their expression, unless these rights have been specifically signed away.

The problem with any copyright infringement action over the copying and distribution of an email in your situation, however, is that a sender of an email can only sue for actual damages and profits made from the use of the copyrighted material.

Another avenue explored in lawsuits has been the invasion of privacy/disclosure of private facts tort. Again, however, these suits generally fail in that emails are not considered a private means of communication and there should be no expectation of privacy when sending emails. In Katz v United States, 389 US 347 (1967), the Court devised a two-part test, asking if, one, the person has an actual expectation of privacy and, two, if society recognizes this expectation as reasonable. Society has not recognized, for the most part, that this expectation of privacy is reasonable. Emails are like postcards, and should be looked at as such.

The disclosure of contents by the recipient of an email, then, is not a crime unless, for instance, the contents are known to be classified information and the contents are disclosed to an unauthorized person.

The final avenue that has been explored in the accessing and distributing of personal emails is computer hacking. If a married couple both have access to a computer in the home, however, it would not be considered hacking for one of the parties to access content on the computer.

In other words, you are screwed. It looks like the only actions you can take will be in marriage counseling or in divorce court.