NY- Is there any legal risk to me for private, non-threatening group-chat conversations that someone accessed without permission and then used maliciously?

Question

I am seeking legal guidance regarding an incident involving unauthorized access to my personal digital accounts and the subsequent misuse of private information. I inadvertently saved my personal login credentials on a shared workplace computer. Without my permission, a coworker accessed my Google Photos account and viewed screenshots of private group chat conversations.

The content of these screenshots was non-threatening and informal in nature. It included gossiping and venting within a private group chat, as well as non-inappropriate photos of various coworkers. The conversations were not intended to be shared, published, or seen by the individuals discussed, and the content was not targeted at any one individual nor directed to them in any way.

After accessing this material, the individual(s) allegedly created fake phone numbers and used them to harass me by sending me inappropriate photos of myself. Additionally, false statements were created and sent to my spouse, seemingly with the intent to cause emotional distress. My primary concern is understanding whether the private screenshots—taken without authorization and never shared or disseminated by me—could expose me to legal liability (including harassment or defamation), and what legal protections or claims may apply given the unauthorized access, impersonation, harassment, and misuse of private images.

Ascendance International Consulting (A-I-C) · Accepted Answer

The coworker’s actions, not your mere possession of the screenshots, are the source of legal liability: unauthorized access to your Google Photos account breaches computer-misuse and privacy laws, viewing the private images can be a breach of confidence, and creating fake numbers, sending harassing explicit pictures, and fabricating false statements constitute harassment, possible revenge-porn, identity-theft, and defamation offenses that can attract criminal prosecution and civil damages (emotional-distress compensation, injunctions, and possibly punitive awards). You are unlikely to face liability for the screenshots themselves unless you distributed them, because defamation requires publication to a third party. To protect yourself, preserve all evidence (messages, logs, screenshots), report the breach to your employer’s IT/HR department and to the police, notify Google and any messaging platforms, consider filing a data-protection complaint (e.g., to the CNPD or ICO), and we can consult to pursue civil claims for privacy invasion, harassment, and any defamatory statements, while securing your own accounts with two-factor authentication and removing saved passwords from shared computers.

NY- Is there any legal risk to me for private, non-threatening group-chat conversations that someone accessed without permission and then used maliciously?

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Ascendance International Consulting (A-I-C)

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