Should Justin Ellsworth's Parents have been given access to his email?

Question

Justin Ellsworth was a Marine who gave his life for his country. By all accounts he was a brave and fine Marine and we all owe him the highest debt of gratitude. But we were also left with a serious question, what to do with his email? His parents wanted access. They wanted to see what their son had to say. However, email is a private sort of thing. Yahoo, his email provider, had a terms of service agreement with him. And while we sympathize greatly with his parents, there is also a precedent to be concerned about. One can't simply waive away the privacy issue as a decision to release the information could have serious consequences for email privacy for us all. So the issue needs to be discussed, thought through, and resolved. That is why we have cases like this in a class like this, so we can think these things through and try to respect the family, the deceased, and the needs of society. So I ask you:

Answer 1

In the military, they fill out a form for instances like this, indicating who the designated 'next of kin' is. To this person, all personal effects are turned over in case the individual is killed in action. Since this includes snail mail, I believe email should also be covered.

Answer 2

The military requires each troop to make out a will before deployed into hot zones, also they advise that any information you want your family to know in the event of death, if not included in the will, then in a seperate encasing such as a letter addressed to who you want the info to go to and that is where most put their passwords to all email accounts. If the troop does not want anyone in his/her email then they just dont give out their passwords and at the end of 30 or 60 days of non use the account is dissolved, also i think yahoo does advise users to leave for whoever they want , their password in event of untimely demise.
Mine are in my firebox along with my will and all important documents - so when i die - somebody is gonna get paid. Not to mention they can go into my accounts and do a mass email to not email me anymore cause i am dead.
No just because the parents Want to know their son's private business does not mean they have the RIGHT to get his email password nor should they. The needs of the parents are to bury their son and greive. wants and curiosities about what thier son was up to in HIS LIFE as an adult - now seperate from his parents making HIS OWN life as he desired, is just that a want a certain noseyness, and NOT a right.
In todays society I would question the parents motives as to why they wanted it and if they did get it - expect to see a law suit against the government. now days - death is not the loss of a loved one but an oppotunity TO GET PAID - make some big bucks.
Parents who truely grieve for their loss, wont be demanding they have rights. People in general that have honest motives do not go around demanding and claiming rights.
Ciminals and those with criminal intents, do however, always demand their rights whether the rights are real, perceived, or fantasy.
I cannot see how you could make a case for the parents and force yahoo to open up his account to them. If you can make a good case then you may be an excellent candidate for a shyster law suit attorney - go harvard law!

Answer 3

This best thing the parents could do is claim his account was apart of his estate and their they should have excess to it. Having said that maybe it's best to let sleeping dogs lye. I also feel it is a invasion of their son's privacy, having access will not bring back their son, but might bring to light parts of their son life that are not to their liking. The pain of his death is something they will never get over, and I can only pray for them and thank them for their sacrifice

Answer 4

If his parents are allowed access to his email account, it opens up a whole can of worms for everybody else. There will be all kinds of exceptions to the rules to make for this 'n that. So, sad to say it, but no, his parents should be denied.

Answer 5

These real-life stories are the leading edge of what may become a wave of litigation concerning ownership of e-mail information upon the death of the account holder. The competing interests are the privacy of the account holder, coupled with the ISP's interest in preserving that privacy, and the survivors' rights to the property of the deceased.

Most of us think of e-mail as the modern equivalent of a box of letters belonging to us, when, technically, e-mail is an intangible form of property owned by the ISP. Nonetheless, if it is possible to spot an early trend on the issue, that tendency is to treat e-mail information as the account holder's property upon his or her death. In most states, the issue is still unresolved and without clear case precedents. At least one state has passed a law directing ISPs to turn over the e-mail of a decedent to the personal representative for the decedent's estate.

Steps to Take Now
It will be some time before legislatures and courts catch up with the reality that millions of people use their e-mail accounts as repositories for all sorts of information having sentimental, historical, or economic value. In the meantime, there is some practical advice for facilitating access to e-mail information "left behind":

* Read your ISP's privacy policy to determine what your survivors may have to contend with to get access to your e-mails. The policies run the gamut from providing e-mails to next of kin upon showing a power of attorney over the account and a death certificate, to treating e-mail accounts as non-transferable and with no right of survivorship.

* As strange as it may sound, consider dealing directly with the issue in your estate planning by including e-mails specifically in your will, especially if they have monetary value. In connection with this, you should archive the information to your hard drive and be sure that your survivors have any necessary passwords. Conversely, if you want to take your e-mails with you, in effect, stipulate in your will that no one is to have access to your account.

* Get good legal advice, including information as to whether there are any new laws in your state on the subject. They could trump, or at least affect, whatever arrangements you have made or may be considering for disposing of your e-mails after your death.