What is Email privacy?

Answer 1

This is a somewhat loaded question. Several answers could be provided within the context of legal definitions and laws, social perspectives, or solely based off the literal definition.

Email is..."a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use." -- Wikipedia.org: http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail Privacy is..."the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively." -- Wikipedia.org: http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy So Email Privacy can be thought of as...the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or their personal information via the exchange of digital messages by revealing these messages and information selectively. Or by Wikipedia's definition it is..."The protection of electronic mail from unauthorized access and inspection." - http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_Privacy According to the US law..."After 180 days in the U.S., email messages lose their status as a protected communication under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and become just another database record." -- Wikipedia.org: http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_Privacy#Privacy_issues

This means that even "private email" isn't protected after a certain amount of time. After that time, legally speaking, it is up to us as individuals to protect our private information and to make wise decisions about what email service we use to make sure they value our privacy. Work email is especially dangerous to our privacy because you usually have to sign a document upon being hired that says you should refrain from or avoid personal use of work email and that they have the right at any time to read your private messages.

Check out the Lawdex.com case on work related email privacy:

http://lawdex.com/docs/Smyth_v_Pillsbury.pdf

According to the email privacy industry...There are many different ways to sell and pitch "private email." Some believe private email is protected when it has encryption keys, or by logging in with a secure user name and password, or by using CAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), or by merely selling it as a private email choice when it is actually no more private or secure than any other common email provider like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. Email can also be secured privately via SSL encryption, rather than having to use encryption keys. According to the public...The average email user probably doesn't even think about the privacy or security of their email account on a daily basis. Many people using Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and other "free" providers either don't realize or don't care that the private information in their emails is being harvested and used by advertisers to post ads and pop ups in their email accounts. Paid email providers sometimes also have ads, or harvest user data, including services that claim to be private and secure. With very few laws or regulation on email privacy, it's hard to know what email service to use in order to ensure your privacy and security online. Below are a few options that are currently out on the market. My Recommendation:There are a lot of different email services out there that claim to be private and secure, so be sure to review them for the following features: no ads/pop-ups, no encryption keys required, secure web servers and SSL encryption, no harvesting of user information for advertising, and protection for families and children, spam filters and good day-to-day usability. So that's "email privacy" in a nutshell.Best of luck to you and remember: the internet wasn't designed to keep your personal information private or secure, so be careful what information you share online and make sure you find the right email provider that will keep your information safe.