AOL's Blunder

[Julie Wilber]

I am sure that everyone has heard about AOL's blunder with regards to their release of search results to the public.

I'm just curious about what everyone thinks about this, and what sort of ramifications it might have on e-commerce, if at all.

Thanks!

[d_host]

Not just on e-commerce, but how people feel about searching for things online in general. On one hand, you can't avoid search engines, but on the other hand, I bet some people will be a lot more careful what they search for or what they type in on Google, Yahoo, MSN, or AOL....... Sometimes people type even sensitive info into these search engines to see if this info is indexed somewhere inappropriate - for example, many people will search for their own Social Security number or credit card numbers to see if it's posted somewhere online and can aid in "identity theft", especially if they've had some unusual charges on their credit cards, etc. It's scary to hear that AOL posted all those search terms online - with Social Security numbers, credit card numbers - all intact. It's a virtual goldmine for those who have managed to copy and save all that data before AOL pulled the plug on it. Unfortunately, it's already been reposted in a few places I've come across.

So kids... don't try this at home... if you don't want something to end up in a public directory somewhere, not only do not post it, but also do not search for it. :-) You never know what those companies will make available to the rest of the world.

(the ironic part here is that if you shouldn't search for something sensitive, you'll never know if it's actually already indexed somewhere and available to the public... I guess you just have to be careful and make partial match searches vs full length terms)

[PicturesqueWeb]

What makes the AOL release even worse is that user ids are attached to the data. I can view everything you've searched for if I know the id attached to you. Personally I don't care so I don't know how to match up the id with a real person but I'll guarantee someone can.

[Julie Wilber]

Actually, Michael, it's easier than you think. A lot of people will do searches on themselves. Find a name connection and you can see everything that someone searches under.

The other aspect that one of my cousins brought up, legal. Some searches were for subject matter that was questionably legal. What happens when an agency or police department get a supena to get information about a searcher?

A whole can of worms was opened and it will be interesting to see the aftermath. I'd love to hear from more merchant about what they might be doing to ensure customer privacy?

Thanks!