User Search Data Made Public

Public data has been released by AOL on 20 million searches by 500,000 users. I think maybe this is a really bad idea. Google has been fighting this sort of thing for a while.

Anyway, a blogger posted the searches of a user (identified only as user 17556639) who looks like he's getting ready to kill somebody ...

Check out the search history for user 17556639, most recent search is at the bottom of the list.. Does this look like the search history of a user wanting to do something bad?

17556639 how to kill your wife
17556639 how to kill your wife
17556639 wife killer
17556639 how to kill a wife
17556639 poop
17556639 dead people
17556639 pictures of dead people
17556639 killed people
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 murder photo
17556639 steak and cheese
17556639 photo of death
17556639 photo of death
17556639 death
17556639 dead people photos
17556639 photo of dead people
17556639 www.murderdpeople.com
17556639 decapatated photos
17556639 decapatated photos
17556639 car crashes3
17556639 car crashes3
17556639 car crash photo

I kind of like how "poop" and "steak and cheese" are arbitrarily mixed into this :shifty:

where is teh p0rn...Oh it was one guy and not actuall numbers nevermind

What do you mean Google's been fighting this for a while? Look at their modified business practices in Hong Kong and China. Do you really think they don't provide the US government with info when they ask for it?

Google is no different then Exxon-Mobile. They're a publicly traded company that cares about nothing but bottom lines. Google just has it part of their marketing strategy that they 'are a company of conscience, that cares'. But that's nothing but sales jargon.

Here in the U.S. Google has certainly tried to keep its data private. And last time I checked, the majority of folks in China who've been turned in for cyber-dissenting have been using Yahoo ...

A federal judge ruled Friday that Google Inc. must reveal only a limited amount of internal data sought by the Bush administration, rejecting the government's demand that the Internet giant turn over thousands of user search queries described by privacy advocates as highly sensitive.

...

Google's tussle with the Justice Department started last year after the government served the company a subpoena seeking internal search data. The Mountain View company quietly ignored the request, prompting the agency to take the matter public in January by asking a judge to decide.

For Google, the decision was welcome news. Nicole Wong, Google's associate general counsel, said, "This is a clear victory for our users. The subpoena has been drastically limited, most importantly the order excludes search queries."

EDIT:

Hey Don, I know that every internet company doing business in China has to play by certain rules. Google has taken plenty of heat for blocking whichever sites the Chinese request. But the only companies that have been shown to be actively collaborating -- so far -- with turning in dissidents have been Yahoo and Microsoft. (Worth noting that Microsft disputes the Chinese account of events.)

I know that companies are in business to make money, but it's the height of cynicism to automatically assume that they're all going to behave as cravenly as possible. Some, clearly, are going to knuckle under more quickly and more completely.

On the plus side, it would be tremendously beneficial in a psychological study of people's fetishes...

So Google will give the Chinese government the information most of what it asks for, but actually is willing to fight the US government. Interesting. Wonder where their loyalties lie.

I'm just trying to remind you, friend Lemur, in the world of selling advertising space, the product is the search engine and the marketing spin is that Google is a more conscientious company then it's competitors. While I agree they have a superior product, I think they have no more and no less integrity then any other publicly traded company.

Height of cynicism? Sadly, with each passing day, I'm climbing to that peak more and more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ser Clegane

I kind of like how "poop" and "steak and cheese" are arbitrarily mixed into this :shifty:

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i was trying to throw off anyone that might be monitoring my searches. ~:doh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

So Google will give the Chinese government the information most of what it asks for, but actually is willing to fight the US government. Interesting. Wonder where their loyalties lie.

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Actually, noble Don, the evidence is that Google is giving China its blocklist, but not handing over search data. Of course, everything over there is a black hole, so we won't really know for years.

All we know for certain is that two companies have been identified as actively cooperating with handing over dissidents, and neither of them is Google.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Actually, noble Don, the evidence is that Google is giving China its blocklist, but not handing over search data. Of course, everything over there is a black hole, so we won't really know for years.

All we know for certain is that two companies have been identified as actively cooperating with handing over dissidents, and neither of them is Google.

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Nice dodge. ~;p The point I was making that you failed to answer was that Google WILL cooperate with a brutal repressive regime, but won't with it's own democratically elected government. Interesting take on 'do no harm'.

It looks dodgy you have to admit. I'm pretty sure that steak and cheese can't be bought over the net...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

The point I was making that you failed to answer was that Google WILL cooperate with a brutal repressive regime, but won't with it's own democratically elected government.

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Hmm, I don't think I was trying to dodge, just be clear. I usually know when I'm dodging ...

Is it "failure to cooperate" if you refer an issue to a judge? Is the judicial branch now outside of our government?

Is it "cooperation with brital repressive regime" if you comply with the bare minimum of their requests?

I'm not the designated Google spokesperson on the net, just so you know. I just want to be accurate. There's hard evidence that certain companies are going beyond web filtering in China. I'm not sure how much further I'm willing to speculate ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Strike For The South

where is teh p0rn...Oh it was one guy and not actuall numbers nevermind

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Or then, it's... there...

gah.

What is it with all of these guys using search engines to help them kill their wives?

In the days before Robert Petrick's wife, Janine Sutphin, was found floating in a nearby lake, Petrick is alleged to have launched Google searches for "neck snap break" (according to one source, but another says the words were separate), and "hold."

Further investigations of Petrick's hard drives found a visit to a site called bloodfest666, running email affairs with other women, and a download of a document named "22 Ways to Kill a Man With Your Bare Hands."

Circumstantial you say? How about that four days before he reported his wife missing, he had researched lake levels, currents, boat ramps and access about Falls Lake, where his wife was found.

Reportedly, the history of his Google searches were retrieved from cache, not by correspondence from Google, which begs the question as to how a so-called specialist doesn't know how to use digital spot remover.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

What is it with all of these guys using search engines to help them kill their wives?

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when i ask the librarians where to find the wife-killing books, they give me funny looks. :undecided:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Check out the search history for user 17556639, most recent search is at the bottom of the list.. Does this look like the search history of a user wanting to do something bad?

17556639 how to kill your wife
17556639 how to kill your wife
17556639 wife killer
17556639 how to kill a wife
17556639 poop
17556639 dead people
17556639 pictures of dead people
17556639 killed people
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 dead pictures
17556639 murder photo
17556639 steak and cheese
17556639 photo of death
17556639 photo of death
17556639 death
17556639 dead people photos
17556639 photo of dead people
17556639 www.murderdpeople.com
17556639 decapatated photos
17556639 decapatated photos
17556639 car crashes3
17556639 car crashes3
17556639 car crash photo

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Best thread ever! :laugh4: :2thumbsup: As macabre as it is, it's also quite funny, so funnily made that I'm inclined to believe it's a deliberate joke... The best part is how in the middle of "how to kill wife" and "photos of dead", suddenly "steak and cheese" appears... :laugh4: :2thumbsup:

Apparently, looking at pictures of dead people makes you hungry, and a few hours after eating a steak and cheese, you probably need to take a dump!

By the time I graduated from college, I thought I was one weird, messed-up guy. Thanks to the internet, I now have complete faith in my normality! :2thumbsup:

I think the lesson here is simple. If you are going to search the web for questionable material, use someone else's account and computer. :idea2:

AOL apologizes for release of user search data

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

AOL apologized on Monday for releasing search log data on subscribers that had been intended for use with the company's newly launched research site.

The randomly selected data, which focused on 658,000 subscribers and posted 10 days ago, was among the tools intended for use on the recently launched AOL Research site, according to reports on various blog sites. But the Internet giant has since removed the search logs from public view.

"This was a screw-up, and we're angry and upset about it. It was an innocent enough attempt to reach out to the academic community with new research tools, but it was obviously not appropriately vetted, and if it had been, it would have been stopped in an instant," AOL, a unit of Time Warner, said in a statement. "Although there was no personally identifiable data linked to these accounts, we're absolutely not defending this. 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."

Although AOL had used identification numbers rather than names or user IDs when listing the search logs, that did not quell concerns of privacy advocates, who said that anyone among the 658,000 could easily be identified based on the searches each individual conducted.

"It's reasonably easy for people to see what their neighbors are searching for, since most people usually google themselves," said Rebecca Jeschke, a spokeswoman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The release of the search logs runs counter to a court ruling in March, when a federal judge rejected efforts by the Department of Justice to gain access to Google users' search logs. The court, however, determined the Justice Department could have limited access to Google's index of Web sites.

Google was the only search engine to fight the Justice Department, with Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and AOL turning over their users' search data.

"All search engines collect this kind of user data and it's valuable to marketers, insurance companies, people involved in divorce and custody battles," Jeschke said. "If this information is available, there is a lot of temptation to release it."

The search log data, culled from March to May, represents approximately 1.5 percent of AOL's search network in May. The data applied to only U.S. searches by AOL subscribers using the company's client software.

The steak and cheese thing-Steak and Cheese is a website which hosts unpleasant/disgusting/amusing, if you like that sort of thing pics and videos. Given the level of depravity displayed by this character, I imagine that's what he was looking for: rather than info on the best place to get a cheese-steak.

More interesting searches are being posted (hat tip to Slashdot):

160689 light brown colored semen 3/2/2006 16:30 9 http://experts.about.com/ [about.com]

6497dog eat monkey5/22/2006 5:39
6497dog eat monkey5/22/2006 5:39
6497capuchin monkey dog5/22/2006 5:39
6497dog eating monkey5/22/2006 5:40
6497dog eating monkey5/22/2006 5:40
6497dog eating monkey5/22/2006 5:40
6497dog eats monkey5/22/2006 5:40
6497dog eats monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497eating capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497eating capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497eating capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497kill capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497killing capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:41
6497slaughter capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:42
6497feeding capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:42
6497feeding capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:42
6497eyes capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:42
6497tail capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:42
6497tail capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:43
6497tail capuchin monkey5/22/2006 5:43

6497beach stud speedo5/23/2006 1:24
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:24
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:25
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:25
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:25
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:25
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:27
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:27
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:28
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:28
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:28
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:28
6497beach martin ricky5/23/2006 1:29
6497-5/23/2006 1:55
6497-5/23/2006 1:55
6497recent5/23/2006 1:55
6497speedo triathlete5/23/2006 1:55

3302children who have died from moms postpartum depression
3302children who have died from moms postpartum depression
3302rotovirus2006-03-24 19:55:12
3302statistics on infancide
3302statistics on infantcide
3302statistics on infanticie
3302statistics on infanticide postpartum depression
3302statistics on infanticide postpartum depression
3302statistics on infanticide postpartum depression
3302pictires of tom cruise and his wife
3302people magazines pictures of tom cruise and katie holmes

If I went onto google.com and typed "How to kill George Bush", "dead presidents", "assasination for beginners", "steak and cheese", "How not to get caught after killing the president", "what to say if the FBI come round" and "poo" a lot of times do think the CIA would come after me?

Where does it end. They could set up a ministry for search keyword mining called, "Minitruth" and then they'd have to set up another agency to act on all the data they mined called "the thought police" ....

.....its all starting to look a little familiar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ezrider

If I went onto google.com and typed "How to kill George Bush", "dead presidents", "assasination for beginners", "steak and cheese", "How not to get caught after killing the president", "what to say if the FBI come round" and "poo" a lot of times do think the CIA would come after me?

Where does it end. They could set up a ministry for search keyword mining called, "Minitruth" and then they'd have to set up another agency to act on all the data they mined called "the thought police" ....

.....its all starting to look a little familiar.

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Why not try it and see?

We already have a ministry for search keyword mining, in the UK its called GCHQ and the US equivalent escapes me for now but its there. Until fairly recently GCHQ did not appear on maps, which is amusing as its the large building plainly visible in Cheltenham when you come off the motorway, no doubt explains the otherwise bafflingly high sales of "Mathematics Monthly" and arabic dictionarys in WH Smiths in Cheltenham, and of course now you can just find it on Google earth anyway.

Not that I'm going to try, because the next thing will be special branch coming round to look through my hard drive and I'd like to keep my Roy Orbison in cling film thing secret for now.

Damn...

(Go on, google it, I dare you. But I would like to make it clear I am NOT Ulrich Haarbürste in real life)

Actually, EA makes a very good point. I'm not certain why the US Government even needs assistance from AOL, Yahoo or Google. They've had a very invasive data mining program in place since the Clinton administration: Janet Reno's little baby, Carnivore. It monitors everything. The big debate about it was ISP's linking a POP id with an actual ID, but that fight got settled back in 1999, if I recall properly.

Well, looks like Don's gloomy assessment of Google may have some solid backing after all.

Google to continue storing search requests despite AOL gaffe. Ugh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by English assassin

Not that I'm going to try, because the next thing will be special branch coming round to look through my hard drive and I'd like to keep my Roy Orbison in cling film thing secret for now.

Damn...

(Go on, google it, I dare you. But I would like to make it clear I am NOT Ulrich Haarbürste in real life)

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I dared. That was hilarious. :laugh4:

Now, to the point:

How did YOU find it? :smug:

That's even weirder than all of those Aragon-Legolas love stories that were floating around when LotR was out ... and that's saying something ...