QUESTION
Is an individual violating Federal or Ohio law if he/she discloses a private email communication (and the attending name and email address) to others?
Asked on Sep 27th, 2014 on Civil Litigation - Ohio
More details to this question:
Can someone simply show an email they got to any other person without the original sender's permission? Does it violate personal privacy law to do so without express permission? The gist is: person A sent person B an email meant only for person B. However, person B gave a copy of that email without express permission from the sender (person A). The email content MAY even have been altered, and the name and email address of the sender were certainly provided to person B without person A's permission. What remedy(ies) does person A have, if any? Does misrepresentation of the emai's nature and contents, abridgment, etc., have any particular effects?
1 ANSWER
Unless the original communication is with someone who is required to keep it confidential (attorney, clergyman, doctor), or the recipient has agreed that he/she will not disclose the communication to others, the recipient can share it. By altering it, however, the recipient may have committed a variety of torts depending on the facts - defamation, fraud, tortious interference with contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, etc.
Answered on Sep 28th, 2014 at 8:05 AM