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Hoorah for Yahoo!Mind your own e-business!by Sean Carter Americans are very concerned about privacy, particularly over the Internet. We don’t want our Internet service providers releasing our personal information. However, we don’t seem to really care if they give out someone else’s information. This fact was illustrated last week by the public’s outpouring of support for a family’s bid to get Yahoo to give it access to the email account of their son, a Marine killed in Iraq in November. The family has been deluged by offers to help them fight against Yahoo’s “evil” stance of … get this … adhering to its own privacy policy (the horror of it all!). And while I certainly sympathize with the parents, I think it’s pretty clear that they have no right to see these emails. They certainly have no legal right and I’d argue that they have no moral right as well. Think about it from the son’s perspective. This was a 20-year-old male writing what he believed to be “private” messages to others. Just think back to when you were that age. Would you have wanted your parents to know your every intimate thought? I sure wouldn’t have. And I wouldn’t be so crazy about it even now that I’m older. I find it very scary that upon my death, my Internet service provider could turn over my email correspondence to my next of kin – my wife. Let’s face it. There are things in my email box that I just don’t want her to read. Actually, there are things in this column that I don’t want her to read (like the previous sentence). My greatest nightmare would be to meet my wife at the Pearly Gates and have her say, “So you were lying when you said that you found me just as sexy even after having three kids and a premium membership at Krispy Kremes, huh? Well, I was lying about you being a great lover.” Even worse, would be spending the rest of eternity with her asking, “So what else were you lying about, Speedy?” Seriously, people shouldn’t be allowed to uncover all of your dirty little secrets once you’re no longer here to think up a lie to explain yourself. Sadly, many so-called “legal experts” don’t see it this way. Last week, I heard several legal commentators make the sensitive and compassionate argument that dead people don’t have any privacy rights. And sadly, while that is technically true, it doesn’t mean that the family has rights to the emails either. If we’re going to split hairs here, then we must acknowledge that the recipients of the emails are their rightful “owners.” For example, if you send me a birthday card (and you should), then the card is my property. After searching the envelope for money, I can then do whatever I wish with the card. I can sell it, burn it or “recycle” it by sending it to a friend for their birthday. In any event, your children can’t later approach me and demand the card back; at least, not without a court order. Email correspondence is no different. Once you send an email, it belongs to the recipient. They can keep it, delete it or blackmail you with it by threatening to forward it to your spouse. It’s amazing that, in our privacy conscious society, only Yahoo and I seem to be able to live with this fact. ________________________________ Sean is a practicing attorney who writes a weekly humor column on current legal events called "Lawpsided." Lawpsided pieces appear in a growing number of general circulation papers across the country, including The Los Angeles Times. Moreover, his musings on the law appear on nationally recognized websites, such as jewishworldreview.com, findlaw.com, newsmax.com and etherzone.com, and legal publications, such as The National Law Journal and The Los Angeles Daily Journal. Lastly, he is a regular contributor to national magazines like Razor and Tirade. If you would be interested in publishing this piece or seeing other samples of his work, please feel free to contact him by e-mail, by phone at (626) 786-2095, or through his website at:
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