Managing a Digital Life Snooping on a Spouses Email

Your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner just headed out to do errands without logging out of his or her email account. The computer’s sitting right there. Would you feel compelled to check it out?

According to a recent study, there’s a good chance that you will eavesdrop on your significant other’s cell phone and email conversations.

38% of people who are younger than 25 and in a relationship have snooped on their significant other by reading private email. 10% of the time, this snooping revealed that the other person had been unfaithful, resulting in a break up.

36% of people in long-term, committed relationships indicated they check emails or call histories without their significant other’s knowledge. 3% of married snoopers discovered they were being cheated on.

33% of women say they snoop on their spouse or partner, while 30% of men do.

Is this okay? Trust is a fragile intangible that can be irreparably broken. But aside from the moral and ethical implications, is it legal?

CBS News reports, “An Internet law designed to protect the stealing of trade secrets and identities is being used to levy a felony charge against a Michigan man after he logged onto his then-wife’s Gmail account and found out she was cheating… [He] is being charged with felony computer misuse, and faces up to five years in prison after logging into the email account of now ex-wife…on a shared laptop using her password.”

So before you go clandestine and hack your honey’s Hotmail, know that the long arm of the law may toss you into the hoosegow .