Are there laws against hacking into other people's email accounts?

[MamaBear]

I just read on another site about a lady having family issues because of this. Basically, her daughter was staying with her aunt & uncle for like 3 months to help them out while the wife was on total bedrest. She was frustrated over something, vented to her Mom in an email about it. The sister started acting weird to the Mom when she would call a few days later and at the end of her stay (several weeks later), the daughter was told by the Uncle that he had read her venting email.......(and figured out since then, apparently pretty much all of her emails). This girl is 19 and legally an adult, not their child and they had no right to invade her privacy in such a manner. But, it got me to thinking......it would be a federal offense to open a letter in the mail addressed to her. Are there any laws regarding accessing someone elses account without their knowledge or permission, reading private emails, etc? Anyone know?

[DKNY]

jodi...i highly doubt that the internet mail has the same protection. snail mail is handled and delivered by the postal service which is run by the fed govt.

for obvious reasons hacking into internet accounts, companies, etc for the purposes of stealing or tampering with documents is against the law and i'm sure some sort of *charges* would be filed in a case like that, but gaining access to someone's account to read their email (especially if they're using your computer) probably doesn't fall into that category.

i could be wrong. maybe someone else here has had a similar experience and has better advice.

in any case, that was a HORRIBLE thing to do to the person that is there to HELP you! what a way to show your appreciation.

[MamaBear]

That's pretty much what I figured. It just sucks that there are no real laws against this kind of thing. They invaded her privacy and are using it against her and her family.