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are emails considered private?

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A

airbornedoc

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida

My girlfriend sent a guy she was having an affair with some emails while using my computer. She accidentally left her account open and I found them, threw her out. She has been harassing the hell out of me so I am tempted to post her emails on a website to show what a whackjob she is. Are her emails private property if they were written on my computer?

airbornedoc
 


S

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: Are her emails private property if they were written on my computer?


A: No.




By the way, you haven't asked enough questions.
 
O

Ozark_Sophist

Senior Member
Yes, her emails are private property even if you own the computer. It is in fact a violation of both federal and state laws with both criminal and civil penalties. The only exception is if the email was written, read, or stored on her employer's computer or if the email was sent by or to you.

Edit to add:
There are two seperate criminal acts. First, the unauthorized access to her email account (if she left the account open, at most, there was one email on the screen). Second, each email you post would be a seperate criminal and civil violation.
 
Last edited:
Zigner

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I'm with SJ on this on - using email, there is no expectation of privacy...
 
Zigner

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Ozark_Sophist said:
Prove it. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Ok, I'll step back a bit...however, the actual RULINGS are relatively recent ;)
With that said, it can still be argued that it is HIS computer...

But, OP - you're already rid of her...why open up a can of worms?. You should move on, don't dwell on this "whackjob". There are plenty more whackjobs for you to hook up with!
 
O

Ozark_Sophist

Senior Member
Zigner said:
Ok, I'll step back a bit...however, the actual RULINGS are relatively recent ;)
With that said, it can still be argued that it is HIS computer...

But, OP - you're already rid of her...why open up a can of worms?. You should move on, don't dwell on this "whackjob". There are plenty more whackjobs for you to hook up with!
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter. The e-mails are not stored on HIS computer, rather the computer servers (email storage device). It doesn't matter which computer illegally accessed the emails.

In Nevada, a man is facing 15 years and a $250,000 for 3 counts of email interception (of course, there was a commerical interest involved).
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
A recent appeals court ruling in Cincinnati has given emails the highest level of privacy protection yet. The theory used to be that since emails were disclosed to an ISP, they were not private. But most people believe emails are protected under the 4th Amendment. Now the federal government has been told they cannot access emails stored with an ISP like Yahoo! without the permission of the email sender. A big win for privacy if this case holds up.

And, Airbornedoc, is this an email from your former girlfriend who has Histrionic Personality Disorder or from the girlfriend you dated while living with the HPD girlfriend, or is this email from yet another girlfriend with problems??

You really need to choose your girlfriends more carefully.
 
quincy

quincy

Senior Member
Just an additional note:

Currently, an employer has the right to read employee email messages sent and received on the employer's computer, and universities generally notify students that the university can access student email if the email is sent or received on a university computer. This recent ruling (again, if it holds up) may, however, change the way private email messages can be accessed. The ruling in part says that, although an ISP HAS the email, it has not been given permission to READ the email, and the email should be considered private unless the sender is notified first and the sender shows that he doesn't consider the email private.
 
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