Legal Question in Technology Law in Virginia
I sent private e-mails to my best friend.� My best friend and her partner had the same internet account but, they had their own personal passwords for their e-mails.� When they broke up, my best friend's partner figured out my best friends password and went in to read all her e-mails.� Then, she took the e-mails I had written to my best friend and sent them to a bunch of random people that they both knew.�� Was this legal for her to do this?� If not, is there anything I can do about it?� She violated my privacy and I'm quite angry about it.�� Thank you in advance.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Violation of your privacy rights, you suggest? No, I don't think so; for the situation described, I would offer the affirmative defense which the law terms Assumption of the Risk.
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act provides at 18 US Code 1030(a)(2)(C) that
"Whoever intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains ...information from any protected computer..." violates the Act.
A "protected computer" is basically any computer connected to the Internet, and it appears that the hacker "exceeded authorized access" in hacking into the other person's account.
It's your friend who had the hacked computer, not you, so any civil cause of action under the CFAA based on the events would have to be brought by your friend rather than by you.
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