The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting Pieces Together
ACTA Guide, Part 1: The Talks To-Date
ACTA Guide, Part 2: The Documents (Official and Leaked)
ACTA Guide, Part 3: Transparency and ACTA Secrecy
Why the AOL Search Fiasco Matters |
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Wednesday August 09, 2006
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Matthew Ingram and others have questioned the response to AOL's release of search data. The skeptics
argue that the privacy concerns have been overblown, noting that no one
has actually been personally identified through their searches. No
longer. The NY Times runs a story
in which it was relatively easy to identify a Georgia woman (AOL
Searcher 4417749), with her search history telling a remarkably
personal story over a three month period. The article provides a
powerful illustration not only of the severity of the AOL mistake
(which remains online
for all to see), but of why search companies simply should not be
retaining this data for any significant period of time. The public
privacy risks, whether self-inflicted, from hackers, or via law
enforcement fishing expeditions, outweigh the private commercial
benefits.
Comments (5)
Legolam
said:
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... I'm sure the "skeptics" will now move to phase 2: "Well, she wasn't really HURT by the revelations, right? She has nothing to hide, she's a grandma!" Just watch. |
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... michael, given the hailstorm of controversy, i'm amazed the aol database is still available. why wouldn't they remove it immediately? it strikes me as a privacy and management fiasco. |
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... Mark, I believe AOL has removed the database. During the period it was available, others captured it with at least two sites hosting mirrors of the same information. This raises legal issues for those sites, but the incident illustrates that it is nearly impossible to put the data genie back in the bottle. MG |
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... What about the cross border issues now? How many of these people were Canadians who's data was released by an American company for American researchers to "learn from"? This should really set of some discussion in Canada about what Canadian information is being extracted from Canada for sale in the US. |
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