Legal Question in Business Law in California

You absolutely are risking legal action. Intercepting wire communications is illegal no matter how you do it.

A good rule of thumb for the layperson is this: if it sound's sleezy, it's usually illegal.

Intercepting someone's communications in the manner you describe, is illegal.

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney

Of course you're risking legal action. If you were a locksmith, do you think you could legally enter the homes of your clients as long as they hadn't changed the locks?

Unauthorized access to computer data is a crime. That you happen to know the password does not mean you are authorized to use it. What you have done may not meet your own definition of "hacking", but it seems pretty clear that it meets the law's definition of unauthorized access.

Note that each instance of unauthorized access -- including potentially each individual email you have read and each file you have examined -- can be prosecuted as separate crimes.

In addition to your criminal exposure, you face substantial civil liability for what you have done. You also risk being defaulted in your current dispute with your former partner if it goes to court and if the other side realizes what you have been up to.