The U.S. Government is Reading Your E-mail

Did you know that the U.S. government has been monitoring and reading your e-mail for years? E-mails are monitored by the National Security Agency without a search warrant, courtesy your Internet service provider. The government scans all e-mails, and they will be flagged for further scrutiny when they contain certain keywords or phrases.

Recently, an AT&T employee decided to come forward to report this information. Mark Klein worked for AT&T for 22 years as a technician. He states that AT&T handles tens of millions of e-mails per day for AT&T and other Internet service providers as well. They have an entire room dedicated to spying on the public. He also stated similar spying rooms were in San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle. Mark Klein actually gathered proof with detailed documents and photos. PBS aired a program on this subject on there "Now" program. Transcripts

What does the United States government have to say about this? According to the Stored Communications Act they have the right to read your e-mail without a search warrant. These include e-mails on Internet service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. The United States government most likely understands they are in a gray area. They tried to use monitored e-mail in a criminal trial against Steve Warshak of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals. The judge ruled that the e-mail evidence was unconstitutional. It is a victory for those who believe in the 4^th Amendment. According to the 4^th Amendment, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." source Sounds good. But for now, I would be careful not to send private information by e-mail.