Interesting article, though its assumption that since an IT administrator could look at your email it cannot be considered privileged is a bit worrisome. It basically means nothing done electronically can be counted as privileged.

Why are phone conversations privileged? If the phone company was so inclined, it could (and has) hook up a listening device and listen to whatever they wanted, just like an IT administrator could hook up his email program to point to your mailbox (or packet sniff or use some other method).

Fortunately, from the skimming I did, it doesn't look like there's case law on the matter, just an assumption that emails can't qualify as privileged. Note that most IT administrators could get any private keys you use at work by logging into your machine and copying them off and he could get your passwords by hooking up a keylogger. By the standard promulgated in the article, a defendant could then be forced to offer any passphrase for anything. We know that at least isn't considered the rule yet, let's hope it never becomes such.

If your email is from your company, you don't own it and there's no expectation of privacy as you're working as a representative of that company.

It's well established that what I do outside of work can get me fired if it's deemed inappropriately representing the company. So I don't get why there's an expectation of privacy when I'm doing something with work property, even if it's an email. I'll get fired if I'm inappropriately using the vehicle my work gives me, why wouldn't I get fired if I'm inappropriately using an email address my work gives me?

  > Fortunately, from the skimming I did, it doesn't look like there's
  > case law on the matter, just an assumption that emails can't
  > qualify as privileged.

IIRC there was a court case in California where the judge ruled that email can't be privileged because the sysadmin can read the email. I don't know if that was overturned on appeal or anything though. It may have been a federal case too (what's California? The 9th Circuit?).