Do deceased people still have a right to privacy? (death, insurance, party)

[Ottawa2011]

There was an article in the news about an elderly widow who's fighting Apple to get the password to her late husband's computer account, so that she can just play a game on it.

Should a deceased person's heirs have the right to "inherit" things like passwords and account information owned by corporations?

An executor usually gets the authority to get access to copies of traditional records like medical records. Corporations don't necessarily have to play by those rules, apparently. Should they?

[kygman]

I don't see what the problem would be. If nothing else see if they could clear his password and let you put one in to access his data and games.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Ottawa2011

There was an article in the news about an elderly widow who's fighting Apple to get the password to her late husband's computer account, so that she can just play a game on it.

Should a deceased person's heirs have the right to "inherit" things like passwords and account information owned by corporations?

An executor usually gets the authority to get access to copies of traditional records like medical records. Corporations don't necessarily have to play by those rules, apparently. Should they?

no.

if she didnt have the password while he was alive she doesnt deserve it now.

have some respect for the dead.

[Rescue3]

Generally speaking, no.

The following two examples make the point that if a person wants someone else to know something, they should tell them about it now, or at least tell them how to access the information after their death:

My father was a life insurance man. He was the guy who bought the check to the next of kin after the policyholder died. He always warned the beneficiary not to give any of it away, because if the decedant had wanted someone else to get money, he would have had a separate policy for that other person. Sure enough, as soon as the widow got the check and my Dad left, a dozen relatives showed up telling her that the deceased had promised them money...

Many of us worked in the government and know some things we cannot talk about. We were instructed to, and plan to, take them to our grave. How could some third party come along after my death and know what can and cannot be transmitted to a spouse? Not fair to them; not fair to my spouse.

Right now, the most sensitive thing I own is my Amazon password. My wife has everything she needs to carry on should I croak tomorrow. (And that does NOT include my Amazon password... )

[Redraven]

My wife has all of my passwords. In case she should forget, some of them are written on the file folders that hold the account statements in the filing cabinet.
I have nothing to hide from her. I have no secret email accounts, no secret bank accounts, no secret ebay or craigslist accounts, no secret accounts of any kind. I simply don't know why I would want any such things!
As for privacy, once I expire, IMO I no longer have any rights to privacy. In fact, I don't believe the dead have any rights at all! There is absolutely nothing in the Bill Of Rights (the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution) that could apply to someone who is dead, IMO.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Redraven

My wife has all of my passwords. In case she should forget, some of them are written on the file folders that hold the account statements in the filing cabinet.
I have nothing to hide from her. I have no secret email accounts, no secret bank accounts, no secret ebay or craigslist accounts, no secret accounts of any kind. I simply don't know why I would want any such things!
As for privacy, once I expire, IMO I no longer have any rights to privacy. In fact, I don't believe the dead have any rights at all! There is absolutely nothing in the Bill Of Rights (the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution) that could apply to someone who is dead, IMO.

technically obviously, they dont, they cant.


but its called respect.

I do not agree with your post.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

no.

if she didnt have the password while he was alive she doesnt deserve it now.

have some respect for the dead.

Living people have a right to all sorts of things dead people don't, because they don't benefit from them. Money. Property. Expression. And others.

When a person dies, someone or someones inherit their estate. That estate includes not just financial items, but information items. It is up to the heirs on how or if to disseminate such things, just like it is up to them to determine how or whether to disseminate financial items.

From a purely humanistic standpoint, too, we learn so much from knowing how others think, how they experienced life. Forcing the living to tell us all about it violates their ability to live that life. But unnecessarily shielding the rest of that knowledge from the rest of humanity after we're dead would be a great loss in a full understanding of the human experience. How many children, for example, feel they never really fully knew their parents until the parents died and the children are able to sort through old writings and letters and other personal information? That sort of thing can be hugely valuable to the living.

[Caltovegas]

Social Security numbers of the dead are posted online for all to see. Yet the dead should have the right to remain silent.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Ottawa2011

There was an article in the news about an elderly widow who's fighting Apple to get the password to her late husband's computer account, so that she can just play a game on it...

She's wacko, and probably isn't long for this world either.

Question: If she's capable of doing the obvious, creating her own account, who will fight for access to that when she dies?

[Electrician4you]

My wife has access to all my accounts. Once I'm dead I want her to use or close them as needed. I am willing everything to her. She should have all information or things that belong to me.
There is nothing for me to hide from her.