August 10, 2006
AOL Search Queries as Narrative
AOL released a bunch of search query information recently. Interestingly, the information shows you who searched for what and when. AOL Stalker reveals the thoughts of the person stalked. This is one example, but this is my favorite, user 1890315, who goes from country music to incest to knoxville real estate to bestiality to Elvis..... Wait, no, my favorite is this one.
AOL Stalker promises to remove entries that identify a user, as if it matters.
Bonus - search for yourself to see if any AOL users are stalking you!
-
I am traumatized now. This is more than I ever wanted to know about people, even anonymous AOL users. "I'm horny. No - wait - hungry. No, horny. Do I want to buy a Kia Sedona? Now I'm horny again. Hey - what happened on Survivor this week?"
-
multiple phone numbers, escort services, county jail, corrections women who choose loosers [sic], how to insert a beer can in vagina, do i qualify for food stamps in kentucky (I'd vote yes) star wars music, family guy hentai meg and quagmire Beastiality, son mother sex, rhode island congressional candidate john holmes horse penetrating a woman, goat sex, soft ice cream cone myspace, fleshlight beastiality love, wwe myspace layouts, goth, emoskate.com, how to make a virus, concord junior high hurts when you pea [sic], hurts when you pee, female cure hurts when you pee, wallmart [sic] wwe, speedo men, speedo boys, batman underwear wwe, beastiality Like shooting fish in a barrel
-
-or- "What's a good bible translator? Damn, I need to see pics of naked children!"
-
?
-
So AOL screwed up. and we're making it worse? How cute we are!
-
Doesn't seem to me any more revealing of human nature than our MoFi threads do, actually. Does point out the downside of trusting online communications - including email, that most regard as somehow privileged, private, or sacrosanct. Personally think highly of the 82-year old lady in the International Herald 'Tribune's article whose inquiries resulted in her being tracked down and interviewed. It is a thousand pities she should feel intruded upon; but if only a compendium of her searches were to be considered, how differently a casual reader might regard her. Fact is, folk are far more than lists of the library books they check out or the titles they buy, more than the charities they give to, more than heart can wring, or tongue can spell. And anything or anyone assuming otherwise is an enemy from where I stand.
-
Lest I haven't made this perfectly clear, to hell with AOL trying to attract study of people's private behaviours without getting the consent of those to be studied.
-
A big lesson for everyone: anonymity on the net is a big illusion. If we keep assuming our information there is safe in the hands of those we 'trust', we'll keep getting bit in the rear. /looks at 'history' menu on browser, clears it Monkeyfilter: hurts when you pea
-
Fact is, folk are far more than lists of the library books they check out or the titles they buy, more than the charities they give to, more than heart can wring, or tongue can spell. And anything or anyone assuming otherwise is an enemy from where I stand. Exactly. But taking out of context, cherry picking the 'pertinent' bits is what the people seeking this info excel at.
-
Why does anyone still use AOL in this day and age? Seriously, can anyone explain that to me?
-
family guy hentai meg and quagmire Can't...get...clean...
-
I want to see ladeis!
-
sexual positions 2006-05-22 21:57:18 http://www.sexualpositionsfree.com sexual positions 2006-05-22 21:57:18 http://www.askmen.com sexual positions 2006-05-22 21:57:18 http://www.condoms.au.com premature ejaculation 2006-05-22 22:20:23 http://www.webmd.com heh.
-
* 2006-08-10 17:02:54 81.86.166.xx searched for warez * 2006-08-10 17:02:34 63.85.214.xx searched for suicide * 2006-08-10 17:02:32 198.203.175.xx searched for suicide * 2006-08-10 17:02:28 203.59.59.xx searched for are niggers satan or demons or gremlins Er.
-
flagpole, clearing your browser won't help. Using one of the bazillion 'Anonymizers' might, but they sometimes slow your browsing waaaaaay down. At least they do for me. Yahoo and others reveal queries from millions of people; Google refuses. Identities aren't included, but the data trove stirs privacy fears. Federal investigators have obtained potentially billions of Internet search requests made by users of major websites run by Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc., raising concerns about how the massive data trove will be used.
-
I don't know if this has ever been brought up, but this Onion story seems more poignant than ever.
-
oh, and be sure to enlarge that image on the story.
-
EveryHole.com? *covers nostrils*
-
This is . . not as hot a party as I had anticipated.
-
The ironic part is, if the companies using this research are doing so with the intention of making money from what these AOL customers are interested in, those companies will need to specialize in child porn, bestiality, and spouse killing. Not the commercial marketing tool they'd imagined, eh?
-
Well, slam me like a drawer do I feel dirty now!
-
Hi! Um . . this "Internet" appears to be . . locked or something . . uh . . does this open in the back?
-
From this day for all my searches are appended with -"researching a plot idea".
-
EFF Complains, Someone Else Will Sue
-
EFF Complains, Someone Else Will Sue Damn you, cyber hippies.
-
Ooops. Lawsuit.