Community Chat

[KathyPet]

The family member would have to know your E. Mail address which they would if you had ever sent them a E mail BUT then they would have to know your password or have the technical knowledge to hack into your E mail which is a very sophisticated capability. Sounds to me like their comment was either random or your friend shared your E mail!with your relative. have you spoken with the person you sent the E mail to about this?

[ilovedaisies]

Be sure that no one can hit the back button several times ans end up in your inbox.

[Clover29]

Is this "snooping" family member someone in your household who has access to your computer, or someone who doesn't live at your house at all? It's very unlikely someone managed to read your email if you have it passworded, and even less likely that they hacked it from a distance.

Either the recipient shared details, or it was a coincidence. Coincidences happen to me all the time. I'm always saying, "Funny you should mention that, I was just talking to Betty about the same thing" (when I know Betty doesn't know the other friend at all). Just coincidence. It feels a bit spooky sometimes, but nothing to think too much about.

[Feline Fine]

Phrases unique to you - not just passwords - are more secure, and yes, change it monthly if you can.

[goodstuff]

I think it's more likely that your family member coincidentally said something that reminded you of the email you sent your friend, that your friend shared the content, or that what you said to your friend is something you have mentioned to others yourself and forgotten. Or maybe you accidentally left your computer on and your email open and a family member saw it. I doubt you are the victim of an intentional "family hacking".

[bikerbabe]

On 5/5/2014 GoodStuff said:

I think it's more likely that your family member coincidentally said something that reminded you of the email you sent your friend, that your friend shared the content, or that what you said to your friend is something you have mentioned to others yourself and forgotten. Or maybe you accidentally left your computer on and your email open and a family member saw it. I doubt you are the victim of an intentional "family hacking".

I agree.

[monalisa1452]

Yahoo, google, msn, apple - all reserve the right to read your emails in their terms of service.

And of course - there is the NSA.

[Lindsays Grandma]

Thank you all for your response. The recipient and my family member don't know one another, therefore they do not communicate with one another. However, as someone mentioned, there have been e-mails sent to the family member from my e-mail so it is likely that is how they were able to read my mail. I guess the only way I can stop this from happening is to change my address which I have had for over two decades. The other option that was suggested by chickenbutt is to create a g-mail account which I prefer over the other.

[Emma bunting]

Do you think you could have inadvertently copied your relative in on your email? This happened to me once. A friend had me copied in on an email so I saw the entire thing. Luckily, it wasn't anything about me! I immediately let her know.

Usually, if you just type the first letter of someone's email address your mail program will auto fill the rest for you so I can see how you might not have even known if you copied your relative in.

If all else fails, there is always the direct approach. Why not just ask your relative how he or she knew what was in your private email?

[LilacTree]

I have an AOL account that I have used since it started way back in the early nineties. However I use that email only for online purposes and even here at the Q. There is very little personal information within that account (although I do order with that account so my home address and CC number is possibly at risk).

My personal email is set up in Outlook with Comcast. I get very little spam on that, and only use it strictly for very personal purposes. I do not ever use this address online.