EMT Search Results - Scary

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
Community Leader
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Recently AOL released the search data of its users, and expected it to be used by researchers. Instead of including usernames, they included user ID numbers. User "x" would always be identified as User 123.

The problem is that people have used the information to create searchable online databases. When I searched for "become an emt", and then clicked on a random user who searched for EMT, I found that they also searched for:
  • Their name
  • Their address
  • Their DOB
  • kmart careers
  • warrants
  • walmart careers
  • i need help in life
  • florida convicted sex offenders
  • repressed memories
  • us postal service
This is not an isolated case. It's amazing what some people, even in my own small community, that I actually know, search for.

Any thoughts?
 
Chimpie

Chimpie

Site Administrator
Community Leader
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That list doesn't really surprise me Matt. I have searched a few of those mentioned above, and here's why:

My name: Always good to know what's out there, plus I'm quoted in a few "customer testimonials".
My address: Always cool to see a map of my house, previous house, friends, etc.
Warrants: I've actually searched that one pretty heavily over the past couple of years when dealing with a recent friend of the family issue. Plus I always make sure I didn't get added by mistake. LOL
KMart and WalMart careers: As you know, I recently was offered a job by a big box company and I searched both of these to see the competition. Plus have you ever checked out the "WalMart Sucks" type websites? Too funny.
Florida Convicted Sex Offenders: After a recent news article I looked at not only where I live, but my girlfriend's, my mom's and my brother's place (I have a niece and nephew). When something came up, I forwarded it to them. Is that wrong?

I can't say I searched anything else on the above list, but I have searched hundreds of other different things. It's amazing what you can learn just by doing searches.
 
fm_emt

fm_emt

Useless without caffeine
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Remember, these *are* AOL users, considered in many technical circles to be the bottom feeders of the internet. ;-)

I have oodles of free time at my day job. I'll sit there and type random crap into Google. Like "monkey with a pancake on its head" and other goofy stuff. I looked through a lot of the search data, and most of it was fairly harmless.

But this is just another lesson to us all - we're not anonymous on the internet. Oh, and AOL will sell your soul out if they can make advertising money from it.

I should mention that I am also a former AOL employee. I worked for Netscape right after the AOL merger, and I quit after the AOL/Time Warner disaster happened. (Yeah, I've had too many tech jobs.)
 
MariaCatEMT

MariaCatEMT

Forum Asst. Chief
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fm_emt said:
Remember, these *are* AOL users, considered in many technical circles to be the bottom feeders of the internet. ;-)

I have oodles of free time at my day job. I'll sit there and type random crap into Google. Like "monkey with a pancake on its head" and other goofy stuff. I looked through a lot of the search data, and most of it was fairly harmless.

But this is just another lesson to us all - we're not anonymous on the internet. Oh, and AOL will sell your soul out if they can make advertising money from it.

I should mention that I am also a former AOL employee. I worked for Netscape right after the AOL merger, and I quit after the AOL/Time Warner disaster happened. (Yeah, I've had too many tech jobs.)
Click to expand...


I use AOL. :rolleyes:
 
I

islandgal

Forum Crew Member
76
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fm_emt said:
Remember, these *are* AOL users, considered in many technical circles to be the bottom feeders of the internet. ;-)

I have oodles of free time at my day job. I'll sit there and type random crap into Google. Like "monkey with a pancake on its head" and other goofy stuff. I looked through a lot of the search data, and most of it was fairly harmless.

But this is just another lesson to us all - we're not anonymous on the internet. Oh, and AOL will sell your soul out if they can make advertising money from it.

I should mention that I am also a former AOL employee. I worked for Netscape right after the AOL merger, and I quit after the AOL/Time Warner disaster happened. (Yeah, I've had too many tech jobs.)
Click to expand...


So, just what exactly did you learn from "monkey with a pancake on his head?" LOL:)
 
Chimpie

Chimpie

Site Administrator
Community Leader
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I've used AOL since 98. Don't get me wrong, I still use IE for some of my online needs, but I really don't see anything wrong with AOL.
 
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