So what about email is private? Certainly not anything you send to another person.

By now most everyone knows, or should know, that sending an email is about as public a statement as you can get. That email can be forwarded around the world several times within two hours. This is particularly important to remember in business contexts. Yes, email is great for documenting facts and tasks, but not so good for recording more subjective topics regarding people and opinions. My rule of thumb is to write any email as though anyone might read it.

Here’s something though that not too many folks are aware of yet- where email is really private. That is in the question of who owns the emails.

The answer?

The Internet service provider (ISP).

What does this mean? I don’t know about you, but I keep some emails for years as a kind of cyber diary. Kudos, benchmarks, cool links, photos, important communications with clients, etc. stay in special folders to refer to at will. When I pass on, I may want my heirs to be able to access that information and not make them have to wrestle with a company like Yahoo to gain access to my account because of their excellent privacy policies.

In order to make a conscious choice regarding what happens to you and your loved ones’ intellectual and personal information when they die be sure to have a place where passwords are kept along with other pertinent estate information and overtly state emails as an item in the will. On the other hand, if you want to seal the vault of your lifetime upon your death, specify that in your instructions to survivors or your personal representatives.

What is your will with your email? It’s up to you; just be sure to record it so others can oblige you.

Be sure to contact your Privacy Gurus® with any questions about this topic and any other privacy and information security topic.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at (619)670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com