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In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu writes:
>
>
>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>account.
>

In general, I find it very helpful to draw analogies to conventional
technologies when dealing with computing situations where there is no
standard procedure.  If nothing else, this analogy helps lawyers and
administrators better understand the issues.

Change the details just a little bit... Suppose that you have a file
of papers belonging to the deceased person.  What is your
responsibility in that case?

If I'm not mistaken, someone is designated as the executor of the
person's estate.  Most likely this will be the parents, unless the
student was married or had otherwise designated someone else. The
executor has the legal right/responsibility to retrieve all personal
items and settle all debts.  Collecting papers stored in various
locations, items loaned to others, charge cards, bank papers, ... are
all part of an executor's traditional work.  Within that context,
I'd be inclined to turn over any files to the executor if that
person so requests.



-- 
Leo Geoffrion, Skidmore College Computer Services, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
EMAIL: ldg@scott.skidmore.edu   VOICE: (518) 584-5000 Ext. 2919

In article <1992Jul23.234640.8728@scott.skidmore.edu> ldg@scott.skidmore.edu (Leo D. Geoffrion) writes:
>In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu writes:
>>
>>
>>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>>account.
>>
>...
>If I'm not mistaken, someone is designated as the executor of the
>person's estate.   ...
>...  Within that context,
>I'd be inclined to turn over any files to the executor if that
>person so requests.

	I mostly agree, however, the one caveat is that the executor would
only expect to receive personal papers or property.  The user might have
files in his account which would not in fact be considered her property; but
instead the property of the computing center, perhaps an employer or a
research adviser.  If you were dealing with physical files someone would
have to sort through them to decide which were personal and which were not.
Depending on the circumstances you might have to do the same with the
computer files.

				Bill Bogstad

In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears) writes:

>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>account.

>4) The current policy of Academic Computing is that the only person who can  
>*legally* access an account is the one who signed the account application,  
>which means that the parents cannot be given access.  In essence I agree, but  
I don't think that will hold up. Look at it the other way. What gives
the computer center the right to decide, for the family, that they
cannot have access to this particular subset of the deceased person's
possesions? I think that is for the executor of the will to decide. 
   Mind you, I am not sure that it *should* be this way. But unless
something happens, I would imagine that computer files fall under the
same laws that apply to other intellectual property.
  I would give the tape to the family, perhaps through an
administration contact, who could perhaps tactfully comment on the 
nature of computer communications....

--
System Administrator                  Internet: betsys@cs.umb.edu
MACS Dept, UMass/Boston               BITNET:ESCHWARTZ%UMBSKY.DNET@NS.UMB.EDU
100 Morrissy Blvd                     Staccato signals
Boston, MA 02125-3393                      of constant information....

In another article, Elizabeth Schwartz writes:
>In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears) writes:
>
>>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>>account.
>
>>4) The current policy of Academic Computing is that the only person who can  
>>*legally* access an account is the one who signed the account application,  
>>which means that the parents cannot be given access.

>In essence I agree, but I don't think that will hold up. Look at it the
>other way. What gives the computer center the right to decide, for the
>family, that they cannot have access to this particular subset of the
>deceased person's possesions?  I think that is for the executor of the will
>to decide. 
>[...]

I disagree.  The account, consisting of the files (not necessarily the
contents), and the resources upon which they are located are property of the
site, not the account holder.  The site still has the right to deny access
to anyone but the account holder.  In my opinion, in all cases where the
designated holder of an account is unable to take responsibility for the
account, system management implicitly assumes ownership[1].

I see three possible solutions:

A)  Waive the restriction and allow the relatives access to the system.
    Perhaps additional restrictions could be placed on the account (limiting
    privileges, resources, time, et cetera).

B)  Transfer ownership of the account to the relatives.  Because the relatives
    may not be part of the university or college, a fee of some sort might
    be imposed.

C)  As suggested by the previous poster, provide the contents to the family,
    either through transferable media (floppy disk, tape, or whathaveyou),
    or through hard-copy.

[1] (footnote from above) Note that "ownership" in the context used in this
    posting denotes the rights and responsibilities of the account holder,
    as established by the system's administration, and not ownership in the
    legal sense.

 Steve "Stevers!" Coile                    scoile@gmuvax[{.BITNET|[2].gmu.edu}]
   disclaimer:  opinions are my own and not necessarily those of my employer.
            "Maturity is knowing when and where to act immature"

 I don't see much of a problem here - if these were paper records or files
which the individual owned wouldn't they be passed on to the next of kin?


				gln

In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu writes:
>
>
>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>account.
>
>This is a situation that I have not had to deal with before.  There are some  
>ethical considerations that need to be understood.  I am wondering how other  
>Administrators/Managers have handled similar situations.

From a somewhat non-compassionate point of view I might look to see what
was there and make sure it was nothing that would cause them more grief,
then give it to them.  I only have a problem with looking, not the
actual giving of the files away.  I'm more concerned that they may
accuse someone (alive) of doing/being something they don't want public
and then the college getting sued.

-- 
=) Buck (buck@sunyit.edu)
"There are some micro-organisms that exhibit characteristics of both plants
and animals.  When exposed to light they undergo photosynthesis; and when the
lights go out, they turn into animals.  But then again, don't we all?"

In article <1992Jul25.152810.19066@gmuvax2.gmu.edu> scoile@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Steve Coile) writes:
>I disagree.  The account, consisting of the files (not necessarily the
>contents), and the resources upon which they are located are property of the
>site, not the account holder.

I think it's the contents, not the physical media, which the parents would
be interested in.  ("Here Mr and Mrs Jones -- here's a 2 gigabyte drive which
has your son's most intimate thoughts somwhere on it").

>I see three possible solutions:
>
>A)  Waive the restriction and allow the relatives access to the system.

Assuming they're computer-literate, this strikes me as a fair solution.

>B)  Transfer ownership of the account to the relatives.  Because the relatives
>    may not be part of the university or college, a fee of some sort might
>    be imposed.

This strikes me as heartless in the extreme.  ("Sorry your son's dead,
but for a price we'll let you look at his files").

>C)  As suggested by the previous poster, provide the contents to the family,
>    either through transferable media (floppy disk, tape, or whathaveyou),
>    or through hard-copy.

If the parents are computer-literate, transferable media is the best choice;
otherwise, hard-copy where applicable.

-- 
	Bernie Roehl, University of Waterloo Electrical Engineering Dept
	Mail: broehl@sunee.waterloo.edu OR broehl@sunee.UWaterloo.ca
	BangPath: uunet!watmath!sunee!broehl
	Voice:  (519) 885-1211 x 2607 [work]

In article <1992Jul23.215931.13522@menudo.uh.edu> sears@tree.egr.uh.edu writes:
>
>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
>account.
>
>This is a situation that I have not had to deal with before.  There are some  
>ethical considerations that need to be understood.  I am wondering how other  
>Administrators/Managers have handled similar situations.
>

One of my coworkers recently discovered that one of this University's 
systems still had an active userid for her father, who passed away in
1988 (OK, so the bookkeeping isn't quite up to par).

She will be approaching this situation from the legal standpoint of
'executor's privilege'.  In most states, the Executor of an estate
has, by law, access to ALL portions of the estate.  I would strongly
suspect that this access would extend to online resources of the estate.

After all, what if the deceased was working on a patent, book, or article
that could have monetary value to the estate?  In such an example, the
executor would have both the need AND the legal obligation to investigate
those resources.

Check with your local counsel; your mileage may vary.  

--Wes

-- 
MORGAN@UKCC         |       Wes Morgan       |        ...!ukma!ukecc!morgan 
morgan@ms.uky.edu   | Engineering  Computing |   morgan@wuarchive.wustl.edu
morgan@engr.uky.edu | University of Kentucky | JWMorgan@dockmaster.ncsc.mil
  Mailing list for AT&T StarServer S/E  - starserver-request@engr.uky.edu

morgan@ms.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes:
}sears@tree.egr.uh.edu writes:
}>Today we have a very interesting and sensitive situation arise -- a user  
}>passed away and now the user's parents would like access to the user's  
}>account.
}She will be approaching this situation from the legal standpoint of
}'executor's privilege'.  In most states, the Executor of an estate
}has, by law, access to ALL portions of the estate.  I would strongly
}suspect that this access would extend to online resources of the estate.
}After all, what if the deceased was working on a patent, book, or article
}that could have monetary value to the estate?  In such an example, the
}executor would have both the need AND the legal obligation to investigate
}those resources.

I think there are two questions here, because the original poster didn't
saw what "access" was:

	access == use of the account

	access == (a copy of) the files in the account

I doubt my heirs would have any claims on the use of my account (and rightly
so).  If it was something I paid, say, an annual fee for (at a public access
site or some such), then perhaps they would (or a refund).

As to whether they have claim to any of the files in my account is a stickier
question.  It would not be unreasonable for an employer to claim that anything
in my account was their property not mine (they bought it with my salary),
hence my heirs would have no claim.  Now, if my employer graciously allowed
me storage of personal files, then I would expect that my heirs would have a
claim on those.  But they would have no more claim on the Ultrix source here,
for example, then they would have on the desk in my office.  The question of
the who/how/when of this division of property would be more difficult than the
physical property in the office, I would think (it's pretty clear who owns the
desk, the boombox, etc., but what the devil is "xyz.17jun92"?).

John
-- 
John Hascall                                       ``Live with it pink-boy!''
Project Vincent                                                              
Iowa State University Computation Center                     john@iastate.edu
Ames, IA  50011                                      515/294-9551 [fax -1717]