AOL data release debacle

AOL data release debacle
AOL’s public release of well over half-a-million search records comprises one of the Net’s worst privacy violations ever.

Data have been online for about 10 days but the appalling phk-up escaped notice until this weekend.

Details of the search histories, gathered between March to May this year, were revealed in what AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein describes as, "innocent-enough attempt to reach out to the academic community with new research tools".

But, "This was a screw up, and we’re angry and upset about it," Weinstein admits in a statement.

"Although there was no personally-identifiable data linked to these accounts, we’re absolutely not defending this," he says. "It was a mistake, and we apologize. We’ve launched an internal investigation into what happened, and we are taking steps to ensure that this type of thing never happens again."

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