Thankfully this link is already down but I fear the damage was done long before they pulled the data. I can only agree with Susan in wondering how this was ever allowed to hit the internet.
Update: Well now they have come out to say this was a mistake - this from the TechCrunch blog. At least they are coming forth to acknowledge the mistake. I know for anyone who has information revealed in that data it won’t much matter, but I am somewhat comforted to know they are dealing with it quickly.
AOL reSearch : Research - 500k User Queries Sampled Over 3 Months
2 comments for this entry ↓
1 Mark Reed // Aug 8, 2006 at 12:11 pm
The damage can continue to be done; there are several different mirrors where you can still download it. Pretty scary stuff in there, too. My comp’ny, ’tis of thee…
My favorite remark on all of this comes from Bruce Schneier, though: “Anyone who wants to play NSA can start datamining for terrorists. Let us know if you find anything.” Zing!
2 gtyree // Aug 8, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Here is the best web interface I have seen on the topic.
http://www.aolsearchdatabase.com/
Complete with Google Ads.
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