AOL Exposes 650,000 Users’ Search Activities

AOL has done the unthinkable. They have released the log of three month’s worth of searches by 650,000 users to the public. Michael Arrington of Techcrunch has the scoop:

The utter stupidity of this is staggering. AOL has released very private data about its users without their permission. While the AOL username has been changed to a random ID number, the ability to analyze all searches by a single user will often lead people to easily determine who the user is, and what they are up to. The data includes personal names, addresses, social security numbers and everything else someone might type into a search box.

The most serious problem is the fact that many people often search on their own name, or those of their friends and family, to see what information is available about them on the net. Combine these ego searches with porn queries and you have a serious embarrassment. Combine them with “buy ecstasy� and you have evidence of a crime. Combine it with an address, social security number, etc., and you have an identity theft waiting to happen. The possibilities are endless.

AOL has taken the download link off their site. This does not mean the file is no longer out on the loose. At this moment, it is being distributed on different websites and file-sharing networks.

Update (08/07/06): AOL admits to their mistake and apologizes.

“Although there was no personally identifiable data linked to these accounts, we’re absolutely not defending this. It was a mistake, and we apologize,” AOL’s Weinstein said. “We’ve launched an internal investigation into what happened, and we are taking steps to ensure that this type of thing never happens again.”

Source: Techcrunch

Written by MCruz on August 7th, 2006 with 5 comments.
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