Currently, a substantial amount of information can be and is collected on the internet about individuals, often without the knowledge of the individual. The common law has traditionally protected four privacy interests: 1) unauthorized appropriation of one’s name or likeness in a manner which injures his/her dignity or reputation, 2) publicly placing another individual in false light, 3) tortuous disclosure of private facts which are highly offensive and not newsworthy, and 4) unreasonable intrusion into an individual's seclusion. One or more of these could be applied to internet situations. Electronic Mail
Everyone should recognize that email is less secure than traditional forms of written communications, e.g. telephones and letters. Email copies are made and retained often on backups which are retained for years, even if the user orders a deletion. EXAMPLES:
1. The legal trend is that employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding employers reading their email. More and more employers are monitoring employee email, basing their right on various rationales: the employers do own the equipment and the software; the employers legitimate right to monitor the workplace to avoid sexual, racial or other unwanted harassment; the employers want to ensure that email is only used for business purposes. This policy should be provided to and acknowledged by each employee. 2. Email addresses have become very valuable commodities. Very large email lists are now routinely bought and sold to allow bulk mailings for advertisement. World Wide Web
As a person surfs the WWW, information about that person is left at various sites, including the type of browser, email address, computer type, URL, etc. Some software (used primarily by employers) records which pages are downloaded to a particular computer. All users should recognize that data files are subject to discovery and seizure during searches by law enforcement authorities, although there are legal restrictions, including the protections of the Fourth Amendment. In civil cases computer data files are subject to discovery. Since technological means are available to reconstruct records, even deleted or damaged data may be detectable and used. Computer Fraud

Background
Legislative attention to computer crimes grew dramatically in the early 1980s, as computers became increasingly central to the conduct of business and politics. Instances of hackers, especially among young people, accessing government computer files for sport were becoming alarmingly frequent.