I agree. If you have a privileged position, it is your responsibility to ignore anything personal you come across -- insofar long as it's not illegal or forbidd

I agree. If you have a privileged position, it is your responsibility to ignore anything personal you come across -- insofar long as it's not illegal or forbidden by established company policy. I wouldn't hesitate to reprimand and/or fire a system administrator that repeated (much less joked about) any personal information they came across in the course of their duties. On the other hand, as an employee, I think it's also your responsibility to assume that any of your communications may be monitored by someone less polite than you would prefer, and to act accordingly.