I understand the Mata Hari component involved or even the blackmail possibilities. But with presidents and congressmen/women carrying on in public with interns and pages, what'sthe problem with an ex-general having an affair? It's not like he's the first

Yes, Kurt, and Petraeus has been very clear that the affair began after he left active duty.  Of course, for a "spy chief" there are other problems with this kind of activity.

My  $0.02 is that since the former general was no longer in active duty he was not under the jurisdictiction of the UCMJ and as such, no criminal acrivity occured. Having said that I agree with all the other statements about this article. Well done

respectfully,

Kurt

A ruse which may have seemed clever, but couldn't evade detection once the FBI was going through Broadwell's email accounts.

As the story played out, it turns out that Petreaus and Broadwell never actually sent emails. Instead, they saved them to Drafts; since both had access to the email account, they checked the Drafts folder and responded to each other's messages in that folder. 

But I agree, @Usman, that many people - me too! - save emails unnecessarily, including unread messages. That's one reason corporations use programs that mandate employees delete or store messages offline once they reach a certain capacity. Otherwise, organizations would spend a ton of money and resources storing and managing years of unwanted email -- which could be subpoenaed, stolen, leaked, etc. 

Most people don't throw out their email, even if they date back years, I myself have a lot of unread mail that I don't have any use for but don't delete because I'm lazy and there isn't any particularly urgent reason for me to. I'd imagine that's the way most people are are with they're personal mails. The circumstances change ofcourse, when one's uisng company mail as it involves more people and stakes then just the user themselves and caution needs to be taken there.

Very interesting, Alison.   This is certainly pointing out the flaws in the systems.  No matter what, as your article emphasizes, you can count on emails leaving a lasting footprint.

DHagar

An article in USA Today pointed out that the FBI deviated from the norm in its handling of the Petreaus emails, and that normally the agency passes along claims of cyberstalking to local law enforcement. In this case, of course, the concern was that the emailer appeared to know a lot about Petreaus, his schedule, and other personal information that could have put him at risk. And, as head of the CIA, they were concerned about any breach of his security, too. I don't know whether the article was supposed to be comforting; I guess it's good to see how infrequently the FBI reportedly delves into citizens' emails. But I have not seen any stats n' facts about local law enforcement investigations.

Excellent points and article, Alison.  It does not matter what form and system you have, information contained in emails can become discoverable from so many angles.  The idea that they are private is like whispering into a microphone and complaining that other people are listening in.

We really have to recognize the power of technology and upgrade our thinking.

DHagar