A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749 – New York Times

In a blunder endemic of any large company who’s responsibility it is to safeguard and watch over their customer’s private data, America Online (AOL) released 657,000 customer’s searches using its service.

But the detailed records of searches conducted by Ms. Arnold and 657,000 other Americans, copies of which continue to circulate online, underscore how much people unintentionally reveal about themselves when they use search engines — and how risky it can be for companies like AOL, Google and Yahoo to compile such data.

Why should this be allowed to happen, time and time again, and companies only receive a gentle slap on the wrist and perhaps a small fine? Do their privacy policies (the actual policies, not what they write down) change as a result of a goof such as this? The public never knows, outside of the generic corporate assurances we’re used to receiving from nameless, faceless corporations more interested in mining your user data for as much of their own purposes as for yours.

Beware any company that collects your private data, without a proven track record of putting the security of your data and privacy first and foremost, above all else. Especially above marketing and “research.”

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 Aug 2006
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