And, as people like Kevin Mitnick have shown, even without root clearance, a clever person can read your mail. So, while you shouldn't consider e-mail confidential, you can protect your privacy. PGP takes your e-mail and uses a complex mathematical algorithm to scramble the letters. PGP also sends along the key to unscramble the message, but the only person who can do so is the recipient. If both members of an e-mail correspondence have PGP, your privacy is secure.
Fax machines have the same safety as a hard-wired telephone.
Since your message is sent via the telephone wires you are protected by the federal wiretap laws. There are two problems with faxes. When you send your fax to an office, it is an invitation for any eye to read. There are some ways to send encrypted faxes which then require a special plastic overlay to read the message, but these are not widely used and are not guaranteed to be private. A cover sheet with a confidential statement is imperative for any confidential fax communication.