Looking Up Personal Information

[hardyboyz1999]

I'm currently volunteering at an agency named Autism Speaks in Washington DC. One day when I was volunteering there, I looked through the personal information files of my fellow volunteers there. Is this a criminal offense? If it is a criminal offense, does anyone know what month of what year this (looking through people's personal information files) became a criminal offense in Washington DC and in Maryland? I'm interest in the history of the laws in Washington DC and Maryland as I live in Maryland and I go to Washington DC a lot.

 

[raskalnikov]

maybe yes, maybe no.

 

[CdwJava]

That depends on whether or not you had access to the information. Is this something anyone has access to, or something YOU have access to as part of your job?

If you had to secretly obtain the info using a computer system under someone else's name and/or password, then you may be guilty of a crime. It might also depend on what you intended to do with the info.

So, as previously stated ... maybe yes, maybe no.

- Carl