Can I Still Check My Spouse’s Email After We Have Separated?

The question here is whether your spouse gave up his or expectation of privacy in this email account when he or she gave you the password. The ECPA envisions this type of privacy intrusion by prohibiting not only the unauthorized access to stored communications, but by also prohibiting the access of stored communications by one exceeding her authority. In practice, this means that if the password was given to you for a certain purpose, you could not use it for other purposes. To do so could expose you to financial and criminal consequences.