Q: Is what my mother doing legal
I’m 20 years old and I am on a phone plan with my mom and a guy who’s a friend of the family, the friend is the phone account holder. My mom tells me she logs into the AT&T app and reads mine and my boyfriend’s messages without my permission, she’s not the account holder and is that an invasion of my privacy and what can I do about it?
A:
Reading someone else's messages without their permission is a violation of their privacy, regardless of whether or not the person doing the reading is the account holder. As a legal adult, you have the right to privacy and your mother does not have the right to access your private conversations without your consent.
There are a few steps you can take to address this situation. First, you can talk to your mother and explain how her actions are making you feel and ask her to stop. If she continues to read your messages without your permission, you can contact AT&T and ask them to block her access to your account or change your phone number and move to a different phone plan that does not involve your mother or her friend.
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