theweaselking: AOL releases the search data on it's use

The Weasel King (

theweaselking) wrote,
@ 2006-08-09 16:03:00

AOL releases the search data on it's users: The records of what they searched for, and when, and what they clicked on through the search engine.

And some of it is deeply creepy. Check out user 927.

(Post a new comment)

	toku666 2006-08-09 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	WHAAAAAAAT? Somebody was looking for disgusting pr0n on the Intarwebs? THE SHOCK! (Reply to this)

	ismarc 2006-08-09 08:19 pm UTC (link)
	Additionally, this article. (Reply to this)

	waterspyder 2006-08-09 08:59 pm UTC (link)
	I want to know how you go from "skin mold" to "dog sex" that quick (Reply to this)(Thread)

	catlin 2006-08-09 10:30 pm UTC (link)
	coughs Wanting to make a mold of an animal's body parts, so they can have the hotz animal sex without breaking the law? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	torrain 2006-08-10 01:01 pm UTC (link)
	With the "human mold", "mold on humans", "skin mold", and "skin mold and fungi" being right before the "dog sex"? I wish, but I am thinking no. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	missysedai 2006-08-09 09:13 pm UTC (link)
	If my search history were ever disclosed, I would most likely be arrested. And then I'd sue the fuck out of Google, since about 90% of my searches are work related. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	catlin 2006-08-09 10:27 pm UTC (link)
	nodnod Agreed. But then, context is important. Example, the holocast rape search could have been a legitimate research topic, for some of the classes I have been in. Researching the treatment of prisoners in different cultures or eras of warfare, or the treatment of women in different circumstances. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

missysedai
2006-08-09 10:51 pm UTC (link)

But then, context is important.

Exactly.

In another Researcher's blog, a commenter said he thought it was great that those search histories had been released, because they could easily be used to prevent crime.

So I asked him if I should be under suspicion of criminal activity because I searched on [ "hit and run penalties" Ohio ] on Sunday. Clearly, I'm planning to mow someone down and try to get away with it, right?

(Actually, I searched because my husband got hit by a truck and the driver left the scene. But my search history isn't going to be able to tell you that. JP's commenter is an idiot.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	rimrunner 2006-08-09 11:46 pm UTC (link)
	Yup. This is why we don't come down on people doing research on, say, pornography, or white supremacist organizations, or whatever. We do ask them to move to a computer where people won't happen to walk past and see what they're doing, but that's an attempt to accommodate comfort levels without censorship. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	A parting of ways... demongrrrrl 2006-08-09 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	I've been a member of AOL since version 1.0, back when it was seriously threatened by competition from Prodigy and... and... I forget the other one. But I'd been considering leaving. Now I'm convinced. Sayonara, sweetie. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: A parting of ways... jsbowden 2006-08-10 02:31 am UTC (link)
	Compuserve. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	psyco_path 2006-08-10 11:13 am UTC (link)
	I admit that I downloaded the file. I love just going through it and looking at the habits of people. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	torrain 2006-08-10 01:03 pm UTC (link)
	I am unfamiliar with AOL. Might there be more than one person doing those searches? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	psyco_path 2006-08-10 01:14 pm UTC (link)
	No, what aol did was assign numbers to their individual users. Since they are an ISP they can keep track of who is searching what rather easily. Most of the searches are innane. Some are plain old scary. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

torrain
2006-08-10 04:34 pm UTC (link)

So if Mr. and Mrs. September sign up for AOL, they'll have separate accounts that they must sign into every time they go searching, and Brittany and Bobby September can't use either of their parents' accounts, even by accident?

(I am just wondering, 'cause I know that if I'm over at

theweaselking's parents, the computers are automatically logged in to one or another of their ISP accounts, and I have to make a deliberate effort to switch out if I want to, say, check my 'mail or billing online.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	psyco_path 2006-08-10 04:39 pm UTC (link)
	MR and Mrs september can create up to 5 accounts with separate login ids and everything BUT the primary user needs to take the time to set them up. Which since we are dealing with humans here is not always the case. (Reply to this)(Parent)

theweaselking
2006-08-10 04:53 pm UTC (link)

IF they set it up that way, yes.

If they're sharing an account, however, by always using the same username and password to connect to AOL, then all their searches will be combined under a single account.

The search history is connected to the AOL "screen name" (userID), not the specific user, so if more than one person uses a specific userID, all their searches will be filed together.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…