Continued from my previous post AOL's scary experiment & Search Engine Privacy Scandal
A quick reading of an article AOL's disturbing glimplse into users' lives by News.com show how much scary detail was carried by data that was released by AOL:
database does not include names or user identities. Instead, it lists only a unique ID number for each user. What that means is that it's possible to view the search terms that users of a single account typed in while using AOL Search during a three-month period.
AOL user 311045 apparently owns a Scion XB automobile in need of new brake pads that is in the process of being upgraded with performance oil filters. User 311045, possibly a Florida resident, is preoccupied with another topic as well:
how to change brake pads on scion xb
2005 us open cup florida state champions
how to get revenge on a ex
how to get revenge on a ex girlfriend
how to get revenge on a friend who f---ed you over
replacement bumper for scion xb
florida department of law enforcement
crime stoppers florida
The breach of privacy is numbing and shocking.
Privacy cries against Google Desktop in the past have been swept under the carpet by a powerful company. The reason is that Google (GOOG) has immense clout with some PR hype machinists because of the company's highly priced stock and the slavish goodwill that goes with riches. I am apalled when I read stories by some journalists who put microscopic attention on the ongoings in Googleplex (as if it were planet Mars or a garden in Heaven with angles roaming) while ignoring the obvious risks the company is taking in its fast track to Wall Street success. When outside PR voices are so doting, I would believe that dissenting internal voices within Google would obviously be drowned.
AOL, however, is not doing well financially. It therefore does not have the clout that Google has, so I suspect that it will get a good beating in the Media. Just watch.
In the long run, strong privacy legislation and enforcement at an international level is the only safegaurd that consumers can hope for. Governments and Businesses will have to let go of the need to save electronic records for multiple years to demonstrate respect for individual privacy. It just needs a stupid mistake, or an evil-smart mind to mess with lives of innocent, normal, sometimes-stressed sometimes-upbeat, curious to learn-about-the-world, law-abiding citizens.
