From: blitz (blitzstrikenet.kicks-ass.net)
Date: Mon Aug 07 2006 - 09:56:56 CDT

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http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/08/06/aol-proudly-releases-massive-amounts-of-user-search-data

"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 abilitiy 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. "

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