Legal Question in Technology Law in New Jersey
What would constitute an Invasion of Privacy on with the internet
I am currently separated from my husband (not legally). I now live in NJ, he is in NY. We have an America OnLine account we continued to share. The account was under my name.
A few weeks ago I sent my divorce attorney an e-mail my husband sent me and a couple of days later my husband sent me an e-mail saying he thinks I am forwarding his e-mails to my lawyer, family & friends. I discovered by looking at the detailed billing on AOL he was signing on as me during the early morning hours. I have no access to a computer at night where I am staying. I noticed he would sign on as himself, then as me, then as himself again. I never gave him my password and never gave permission to sign on as me.
Is his obtaining my password, logging on as me and reading my e-mail an invasion of privacy, a violation of my civil rights or anything else. I know I need a court order to prove which phone number the call was dialed from but I need to know if what he did is illegal and what could he be charged with. Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: What would constitute an Invasion of Privacy on with the internet
Since he is an authorized user of the account, he has committed no crime in accessing and using it. Until you, as account holder, remove the authorization, he may continue to use it.
What type of privacy protections Emails have is a greatly debated and unsettled area of Inet law at present. Probably, by authorizing your husband's access to the AOL account you have waived any expectation of privacy which you might have had.
If you notify AOL that your husband is no longer authorized to use the account, and/or you change the password so he cannot access the account, things which you can do if you are the account holder, then the problems should disappear.
Remove his access, proceed in your best interests, and forget what has gone before.
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