...Should Justin Ellsworth’s Parents Have Been Given Access to His Email? Abstract The question is, “Should Justin Ellsworth’s parent been given access to his email?” There are many things to consider when asking this question. Did they have the right to see it? Did he want them to see it? How would anyone ever know what his wishes were if they never talked about this subject? Did the parents only want the email to see what he was up to, or his personal thoughts? Would there be something in the e-mail that would make them think differently of their son? Is it legal for the parents to see this email? Is this a violation of privacy and policy? These are all fair questions in an ethical battle such as this one. What kind of stance would you take? In a perfect world, everyone would be happy with the outcome of any type of conflict morally, or ethically. However, we all have minds, opinions, and that pesky thing called…the law. In the situation of Justin Ellsworth, he didn’t really have a choice at all. He died as an adult, fighting for his country, and his parents wanted access to his personal email. We ask, is this a breech of policy, or is it a right of the parents to see this email because he was their son, and they wanted to know his final thoughts? There are issues here though, that go beyond just what the parents wanted. Issues exist such as whether or not Justin himself would have wanted them to see it, and whether or not the internet provider had to...
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...deontological reasoning and explore the nature of privacy to answer the question; “Should Justin Ellsworth’s Parents have been given access to his email?” This is a very debatable question. It is my belief based upon my values and life experiences to take the position that his parents should not be given access to his e-mail. First, let us consider the utilitarian aspect of the question. Utilitarianism, as defined by the notes under the Module 1 home page, “the assessment of good versus bad consequences of an action and choosing the course of action that best serves the greatest good for the greatest number”. In the Ellsworth case there are many factors to consider. Positive factors include many interests by both parties. One example is the obligation for Yahoo as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to honor their contractual agreement. Another positive factor for Justin’s parents is the ability to gain some additional insight into his personal life, something they may need for personal closure and the parental need to know more about their son’s life. A negative aspect of this case is the ultimate disclosure of communications that were private between Justin and another individual. If he meant for his parents to receive a copy of the communication he could have simply courtesy copied or blind copied them on the email string. Another negative aspect is the fact that his emails contained his personal thoughts and ideas and were not meant nor intended to be read by anyone...
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