Snooping
Unauthorized access to another person's or company's data.
The practice is similar to eavesdropping but is not necessarily limited to gaining access to data during its transmission (as with sniffing).
Snooping can include casual observance of an e-mail that appears on another's computer screen or watching what someone else is typing. More sophisticated snooping uses software programs to remotely monitor activity on a computer or network device.
Hackers frequently use snooping techniques and equipment such as key-loggers to monitor keystrokes, capture passwords and login information, and to intercept e-mail and other private communications and data transmissions.
Corporations sometimes snoop on employees legitimately to monitor their use of business computers and to track Internet usage; governments may snoop on individuals to collect information and avert crime and terrorism.