How to Protect Your Legal Rights Regarding Email Communications

Contrary to popular belief, email communications are about as private as the love lives of famous celebrities. In fact, every email you send can be read before reaching its destination. Your email can even be saved on a backup system and become subject to an instant replay long after it was originally sent. That's why you should know how to protect your legal rights regarding email communications—and know when those legal rights don't apply.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Internet access

1. Brush up on the the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and learn how to protect your legal rights regarding email communications (see Resources below). The ECPA is governed by U.S. Code and prohibits illegal access to an email communication—even by government agencies—during its delivery and storage, unless the proper procedure is implemented to intercept it.

2. Keep your email communications truly private by encrypting them with encryption algorithm software, such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME). Of course, successful delivery may depend on the recipient's ability to decode the email. There are also reliable "Snoop Proof Email" programs that assure reasonable privacy and work well in both directions (see Resources below).

3. Recognize that Internet users are entitled to expect reasonable privacy regarding email communications as outlined by the ECPA. However, under certain circumstances, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can be required to produce email communications in storage on the server. This is especially true since the inception of the U.S. Patriot Act.

4. Get support to protect your rights if you believe that your email communications are being intercepted in an unlawful manner. There are several non-profit advocacy organizations willing to help, such as the World Privacy Forum (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Many Internet service providers automatically include encryption in their email programs.
• Be aware that your employer can legally monitor any email you send or receive while at work and using the employer's network. However, this right does not extend to a personal laptop or other device that you may keep on the premises.
• Note that government employees have even less privacy. Emails generated or received at the workplace are often considered a matter of public record.

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