On Privacy, Email and Passwords

Pete wrote in with the rather touchy issue of privacy between the folks you live with and how far that extends. What happens when things go wrong between you and your roommate/live-in girlfriend/boyfriend/brother/best friend/etc when they go poking through your belongings, or even your computer and read things they weren't supposed to for whatever reason. Is it right for these people to expect your life to be an open book simply by virtue of the relationship they share with you? What can you do in situations like these? Click below for the whole submission.

Pete asks: "Due to recent events with my live-in girlfriend, she is very unhappy and untrustful of me. Why? She snooped through my computer and broke into my email 'cause she was suspicious. Well you can imagine that if you start looking for evidence, you're bound to come up with something. At the moment I'm taking a break from packing my belongings and such- I'm moving on and out. As much as I love her, I don't, won't, and refuse to share email, passwords, websites I read, and whatever's on my computer. Am I paranoid or overboard? I think not. I don't have anything to hide, but my conversations between my friends, family, and online anonymous persons are between me and them. Has anything similar happened to you? Do you think there's something wrong with NOT sharing email and passwords?"

On a personal note: I'm with Pete on this one. I don't think anyone, even my parents have rights to the details of my life simply because they are suspicious. If they have suspicious, they can come right out and ask me. Anything else is quite simply an invasion of privacy.

Comments?