> The key issue here is the definition of authorized access. If you create a contract with your employer whereby they give you money and you authorize them to access your digital communications (via an explicit policy) then their access is not unauthorized.
Yes, for example the corporate gmail terms of use explicitly states that your employer has rights to any communications contained therein.
But I would be extremely surprised if someone logging into their personal Gmail account at work would constitutes a 'right' for an employer to access that account (and potentially look through years of personal correspondence) to verify that they were "completing their professional task" - essentially access without authorization (at least in the pre-internet days where these would have been physical letters) would have equated to theft of personal property.
Yes, for example the corporate gmail terms of use explicitly states that your employer has rights to any communications contained therein.
But I would be extremely surprised if someone logging into their personal Gmail account at work would constitutes a 'right' for an employer to access that account (and potentially look through years of personal correspondence) to verify that they were "completing their professional task" - essentially access without authorization (at least in the pre-internet days where these would have been physical letters) would have equated to theft of personal property.