Legal Consequences of Spying on your Spouse

Whenever you suspect that your partner is cheating, you might be tempted to check his emails, texts, chats, and social media activities. Gaining access to his personal information serves as an evidence to use against him but are you aware that you could be charged in court for spying? The respect for privacy is a fundamental right therefore it is strictly forbidden to spy on your spouse in any way.

If you caught your spouse rummaging through your phone or computer, you can sue him in the civil court as such act is a violation of privacy. They may be convicted and fined relating to the harm suffered.

In cases of theft of passwords, on the basis of a fraudulent intrusion into your partner’s computer system, the accused when prosecuted and found guilty could be sentenced to jail. This is to tell you how complicating a simple spy on your spouse could become.

In today’s technology-driven world, the most common spying method used is installing a computer spyware that enables the intruder to gain access into emails, social media accounts, bank information, and the use of GPS tracking smartphone apps. Have you ever asked yourself if it is legal to use these software?

The US Federal Law prohibits the creation and possession of these tools that may secretly intercept communications. In 2014, a man was fined $ 500,000 for selling the StealthGenie app. In 2015, an American woman was sentenced to three years imprisonment for using this type of application on the phone of her former husband, who is also a police officer.

In France, the use of such applications without the knowledge of the owner of the phone is fraudulent and illegal. According to the Penal Code, the act of voice or video recording without consent, as well as the violation of the secrecy of correspondence, is punishable with one year imprisonment or a fine of 45,000 euros (Article 226-15 of the Penal Code).

So if you are bent on surreptitiously following your spouse, you must bear in mind that any evidence of an affair obtained illegally from a spouse’s personal phone or computer when presented in court might result to you being charged for privacy violation.

The Legal Way to Spy

During divorce cases it is possible to bring the SMS, emails, pictures, chats, etc. as evidence in court provided that they were not obtained fraudulently. We already know that no partner would willfully grant you evidence of his infidelity, especially when the case covers child’s custody too. So to obtain such information you would need a legal assistance.

For example, if the computer or mobile phone of a spouse contains essential information proving his infidelity, you can access it by seeking the authorization of the President of the Regional Court indicating a really legitimate reason. The President of the Regional Court will then issue a detailed authorization that will allow you to search for a specific element in the presence of a bailiff who will draw up a report.