LITIGATION THAT IS COMMONLY CONCERNED WITH EMAIL

Litigation, civil and criminal, can arise from the
use and misuse of email in many different ways:

1. The civil and criminal offences of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act involve a course of conduct that causes distress. The sending of harassing emails can amount to a course of conduct.
2. A libel occurs where a person makes a statement to another about a third party that causes the other to think less of the third party. Obviously, emails can be used to communicate libelous statements.
3. The Malicious Communications Act criminalizes the sending of ‘hate mail’, which includes the sending of hate email.
4. person can breach their duty of confidence in confidential email through the sending of an email to another person.
5. Emails can be used to send infringing copies of copyright protected materials.
6. Unlawfully obtaining personal data contained in emails is a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act.
7. Using a computer without permission to gain access to emails is a hacking offence under the Computer Misuse Act.
8. Disclosing emails without permission or lawful authority can infringe a person’s right to privacy under the Human Rights Act.
9. Intercepting emails without lawful authority is a criminal offence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
10. Distance contracting by email where the seller neglects to provide core information about themselves and their business is unlawful under the Consumer Protection Distance Selling Regulations.
11. The sending of spam emails is unlawful under the Privacy and Electronic Communications(EC
Directive) Regulations. Within a fractured environment the organization carries an unascertained risk of breaching the law in literally thousands of different ways.