Ethical Question

[smile_n_cuddle]

I heard a news story about a guy who died in Iraq and his family is trying to get copies of all of the e-mails he's sent from Yahoo.

Of course, the concerns are mostly privacy concerns...

So the question is, if you died, would you want your family to have access to all of the e-mails/posts you've ever written?

Comments

[asyouflyaway.livejournal.com]

Definitely not.

[lydiagrace.livejournal.com]

Oh, hell no.

LOL.

[niff.livejournal.com]

Haha. I just told DH that I posted this and asked him what I thought the responses were. He said, "Oh, hell no!" I said, "RIGHT ON!"

hehehe. I so agree

[liveandinperson.livejournal.com]

yes. i would.

[niff.livejournal.com]

So now you have to tell me more :-)

Why?

The news said maybe e-mail companies should, when you sign up, have to check whether you'd want family to have access to your acct.

[liveandinperson.livejournal.com]

because...you're dead...why the hell would you care if they read your private stuff or not? they kind of have a right...maybe to figure out how you thought...what you wished/dreamed...things you never told anyone. hell, i don't really love my family all that much, but i do think they, and my friends, deserve to know all they can about me after i die.

[xeriah.livejournal.com]

haha hahahaha hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA

That'd be my "You must be bloody outta your mind. Fuck no." ^_^

[fl0werchylde.livejournal.com]

I'd actually be pleased, if I weren't dead, that they cared enough to want to see what I was talking about.

[prrrn.livejournal.com]

only if there was a damned good reason.

my first thought from your post was that there was something unusual about how he died or what he was up to or something that he might have written about. (see how much faith i have in the government and the military?!) if my emails would reveal something important, then yeah. otherwise, i probably not.

the more i think about it, though, the more i actually don't really care. how am i likely to die? crime - if it wasn't random, then maybe something in my email would help solve it. accident or suicide or health complications - maybe something in my email (ie, something i posted in lj and someone commented on) would help them cope easier with my death. i do periodically rant about my family, but not enough that it would cause problems.

interesting question! i don't think families should automatically be given the right to see emails after death, but i could understand wanting to let them see, for some people some of the time.