Are My Work Emails Private?

In most cases, they are not. There are really no email privacy laws that keep your email from being monitored at a place of employment. If an email system is used within a company, the employer owns it and is allowed to monitor its contents. Email messages that are sent internally to other co-workers as well as those that are sent externally from your the computer that you use to another company or from another company to you can be subject to being monitored by your employer. This includes web-based email accounts such as Yahoo and Hotmail as well as instant messages. If you need to send email that requires privacy, you should wait until your are at home or somewhere you know you are not being monitored.