Can I Get Copies of Child's Emails From Mac?

Is there a way I can get copies of my child's emails sent from her Mac? For her safety I'd really like to be able to get them.

Arielluria, the best way to do this is to probably talk to your daughter and express your concern. Have her share the password with you so that way both of you will have access to it.

If she does have a personal computer or some other computer you don't have access to then moving that to a "family location" would be a good idea as well.

Please ignore ukchucktown's unhelpful reply. Please let us know if you have anymore questions.

There are a lot of predators out there and REALLY does depend on her age. Protect those that cant protect themselves. The brain dosent mature until the age of 23 so to have a child try and make RIGHT decisions isnt going to happen.


But im with eric on this one. Be diplomatic about it all and let her know of your concerns and emphasise the dangers that are out there.

You do what you need to, too protect the ones you love.

Thank you both. If she weren't already deleting sent emails on purpose I wouldn't be suspicious.

I agree with Eric, although I'd actually take the thing away. Or.. do what I've done with my kids on numerous occasions and just shut off Internet access. Then any Internet access would have to be supervised. Of course, that only gets you around the issue at home.

Arielluria said:

Thank you both. If she weren't already deleting sent emails on purpose I wouldn't be suspicious.

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How old is she?

Also how is she getting her email? Mail on OSX or is she using a Web Based email like Google or Yahoo and if so which one?

Go to Mail/Preferences, Accounts tab/Mailbox Behaviors. See what the "Sent" setting is. If it is set to "Store sent messages on the server," and is not set to delete them, then the sent messages you are interested in will be there. You can see them by using your server's webmail access instead of using the Mail app.

Hmm.. I tried playing around with rules. Apparently it only applies to incoming e-mails I have 14 more minutes until I have to be somewhere or else i'd keep trying... good luck though.

dtravis7 said:

Also how is she getting her email? Mail on OSX or is she using a Web Based email like Google or Yahoo and if so which one?

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It's the mail that came with the Mac, it's v. 3.6.

Arielluria said:

It's the mail that came with the Mac, it's v. 3.6.

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In that case, I don't see why you can't just open Mail and check out what she has sent, since the application does not require you to enter your username and password every time you log in. However, if she has locked her Mac so that only she can access it, then I am afraid you are out of luck.

At any rate, I think you should talk to her. You've been a child before, and I am sure you won't enjoy your parents snooping around. Personally, I'd rather have my parents ask me directly, and that'd yield a higher chance of me showing it to them anyway.

PsYkOoOoO said:

. You've been a child before, and I am sure you won't enjoy your parents snooping around.

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We've all been (or still are) children. Those of us former children who have children in our charge hold a higher amount of responsibility for those lives than those children do. It's pretty simple, kids won't always make even rational decisions. No one likes to hear that, especially not teenagers, but they are all (and so was I) capable of making mind-numbingly stupid decisions. As a parent we hope that we've taught them well enough that by the time they LEAVE the house they're ready to deal with the consequences of their continued bad decisions (and lets face it, we ALL make bad decisions on a regular basis, no one is immune). The difference is all about the potential consequences, I've yet to meet a teenager who can completely understand the intricacies of those. No one enjoys snooping around, the child doesn't.. the parent doesn't, but that does not make harmful rather than beneficial. The easy path is very seldom the correct one. Without specifics I won't even comment on what my strategies would be, but sufficeth to say I treat Internet at home like I did when I was a network admin/engineer.. it's MY (or the companies) asset.. they're not paying for it, it's a privilege.. one that I can revoke without cause. Ohhhh and monitoring my childrens actions? I seem to be one of the few parents who do so.. these days anyway


“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” - Mark Twain

Someone already gave their lecture and basically told Arielluria how to raise her child. It got deleted. How about not posting if your not going to help. Everyone is trying to help her out and people still feel the need to tell her how to be a parent.

Please keep it on topic. The OP needs help and is doing nothing wrong.

Thank you.