Yahoo and dead soldier’s email
p2pnet.net News:- All e-mails are private, says Yahoo, and they won’t be shared with third parties – even if the parties are the parents of a US marine killed in Iraq who want the posts for a memorial.
Demolition expert lance corporal Justin Ellsworth, 20, died on November 13 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. From Michigan, he was in the Combat Service Support Battalion 1, Combat Service Support Group 11, 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
His mother and father had planned to preserve the e-mails in a scrapbook dedicated to his memory, says Agence France Presse, going on to quote Ellsworth’s father, John as saying:
“I think what it was is he didn’t have a chance to send them to me. We had discussed that. We were going to print them out and post them in an album for future generations, his brothers and sisters, and just as a reminder of the times.”
“Our hearts go out to the Ellsworths and any family that suffers from a tremendous loss such as this,” Yahoo spokeswoman Christine Castro says in the story
But, “The commitment we’ve made to every person who signs-up for a Yahoo Mail account is to treat their e-mail as a private communication and to treat the content of their messages as confidential.”
Ellsworth was a trained demolition expert, “but the special reconnaissance unit he was chosen for would be sent ahead into the city to save lives, says the Detroit Free Press,” going on:
“Ellsworth’s job was to go from house to house to warn civilians about the pending raid and then help them evacuate.
“They were sneaking into the city getting civilians out at night,” his father, John Ellsworth of Wixom, said Thursday. “I truly believe he was born for this and obviously, he died for this.”
===================
See:-
killed – Family seeks Yahoo e-mails of fallen US soldier, Agence France Presse, December 23, 2004
demolition expert – Marine dies trying to save others, Detroit Free Press, November 16, 2004
December 23rd, 2004 at 6:44 pm
The property of the deceased go to the estate.
“The family’s lawyer, Brian Daily, told the Detroit News that he would seek to put John Ellsworth in control of his son’s estate, which would give him the right to the e-mails.”
First they need to get control of the estate.
As far as it goes it’s fairly straitforward.
December 24th, 2004 at 4:31 pm
in this case yahoo is definitly wrong . put yourself in the parent`s place. if it was your son i`ll bet you would want his email message`s . i`m also sure that the soldier would want the parent`s to have them. i know i would i did two tour`s of course then we wrote letter`s in case something happened what`s the differance. I DISAGREE YAHOO
December 25th, 2004 at 12:00 am
This is fair enough…providing it’s just a lot of ‘hello’s’ and how are yous.
BUT…his e-mail was a private thing. If he had wanted anyone else to read them, he would have given his password out to his family. His ‘job’ was high-risk, and he knew that.
I admire Yahoo for respecting the mans privacy, and I hope that ‘policy’ never changes.
These ‘e-mails’ could hold extremely sensitive material, which I’m sure the man would want taken to his grave.
For instance…..
Mom was cheating on Dad
Dad was cheating on Mom
I’m not my Dads real child
I’m gay
My brother is gay
I hate my Dad
Hate my Mum
I slept with my sister
I enjoy sucking my toes (!)
Anyhow….I’m sure that the man had every intention of privacy. The fact that he’s dead shouldn’t take that away.
Why the parents would want to have access to his private e-mails is kinda sick.
The Lounge
December 28th, 2004 at 3:22 am
I completely agree with you and I respect Yahoo for standing by their decision. If the soldier wanted other people to read his e-mail he should have given them his password or he should have used another e-mail service.