Posted on 08/08/2006 7:10:37 AM PDT by Panerai
But it's AOL that skimmed the data and gave it away. Google is probably none to happy with AOL for being used that way, especially after Google's defense of privacy you mentioned.
Kinky. ;^)
I'm not so sure Google is mad.
It's really AOL's data, not Google's per se. Yeah, Google got the same data, but the data was given to Google by AOL.
It's like me setting up a search box on my site and tracking keywords (via a redirected url) and referrer data . Not hard to do at all.
I know, but still Google, who refused to bow to the pressure of the federal government to release information like this, ended up being involved in such a release anyway. Google has a big partnership with AOL, including a lot of advertising, and I don't think they believe they can entirely trust their partner anymore.
Actually, I wasn't aware that oil filters were a performance accessory for any vehicle, at least in terms of going faster.
I'm not quite sure (based on my initial understanding of the data released) that Google has anything to worry about.
I'm still trying to see whether or not this info is useful to me. Right now, I'm borderline whether to download the data and data mine it for info. If it includes user actions on certain SERP's, then, yeah..it's important to me.
I have a pretty good acquaintence that drools over this type of data, so I'll leave it to him to decide if there is 'gold in them there downloads'
steak and cheese?
I don't think I got my meaning across well. I didn't mean to say that Google has anything to worry about or is liable for anything, but this action by their partner in using their search engine goes against some pretty strong principles at Google. They can't be too happy.
Really only in high-performance cars. The engines have much higher flow rates and oil pressures than normal, and these filters are built to handle it. They can also have sturdier walls to help prevent puncture by track debris and a hole for a securing wire (so a blown filter doesn't drop onto the track).
IOW, it's a waste of money in a normally aspirated 1.5l, 100hp car with a 0-60 of about 10 seconds.
Time to short Time Warner stock.
Actually, yes, I would classify me as such. I live in the Chicago metro area and get *really* fed up with gapers blocks on the area highways.
I imagine these searches probably don't look too good to someone on the outside that doesn't know that I'm writing a book.
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If you really care just always clear your cookies before you search and you should be fine. I think most browsers have settings to never accept cookies from certain sites, that would be the easiest way to do it.
I am a bit of a hypocrite. I know that I routinely at least glance at the accidents. But when I had my significant wreck, I made rude gestures at the gapers. Since then, I have learned the scientific and cultural basis for this response, so I am a little more at peace with it. We are an investigative species, and we are the only one to have a clue that death will touch each of us in any more than an instinctive sense. I don't spend too much time any more beating myself or others up for morbid curiosity, though if I never saw another accident again, it would be just fine with me. I hope to pass as several of my ancestors have : at 85 or 90, after starting a productive day and having a nap after a nice lunch. I can't think of a better way to complete a life well lived.
Also, I just visited your city last month, and I understand your frustration a little. The traffic and construction on the expressway had me swearing under my breath. But I still loved the museum of science and industry. The expensive parking I could have done without.
They log it by IP address. Clearing cookies won't help you.
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Oh yeah, that's right.
Plotting a wife-killing is hungry work.
I'm more curious about "poop." Did the guy's 8-year-old find the computer still logged in?
Depends on what's in there. I know in the last few weeks I've googled my real name, my FR handle, handles I use on various other forums, and various interests and hobbies.
Taken as a whole, the logs would tell a stranger more about me than I'd like him to know (though nothing more incriminating that I recently bought a Canon SLR and searched for Maria Sharapova). Anything personal is buried in sheer volume -- I probably average 2-3 dozen google searches a day.
The media accounts focus on the ones that jump out as weird and salacious, because the writers are on deadline. But someone who has the patience and skillz to do sophisticated data mining could cause real trouble. Those records could be cross-referenced to public records or private databases to nail down your identity, then used to steal it.
It will certainly make social engineering easier. If an identity thief knows your hobbies, your interests, maybe a specific company or two you've researched and might have done business with, it's easier to frame a convincing pitch to talk you out of your personal information.
Suppose you get a call from someone who claims to be handling a customer service follow-up on behalf of Bob's Camera. You just bought a nice flash from Bob's Camera, so there's nothing suspicious about that. He asks a few "rate from one to five" questions that seem legit and don't trip any alarms. He doesn't ask for any more personal information than your age and ZIP code, so it seems pretty safe.
What you don't know is that he already has your real name, and your mother's maiden name because you posted to genealogy forums. He knows that you researched that flash and researched Bob's Camera, and then your searches stopped. That's not proof that you bought a flash at Bob's, but that's the way to bet. A short con only has to work one time in a thousand to be profitable.
Now that your caller has your ZIP and age, he can nail your name down to a specific individual and address just by searching the white pages. He doesn't have to ask you for your SSN or account number, which would trigger an alarm; he'll get to it through other means.
This is the rough outline of a scam that I sketched out in the last 15 minutes or so. I'm not a thief. There are pros who have spent years, if not decades, honing their methods, and their methods are more devious than the ones I've imagined.
It's the loss of control over subtle info that worries me more than the obvious. If someone steals my credit card number, he can only run up charges to the limit on that card, and I'm not liable for the charges. If he gets my SSN, date of birth, mother's maiden name and a few other key bits of info, he can open unlimited accounts in my name that I won't know about; put my home itself in jeopardy of liens against it; and create a mess that will take months or more likely years to clear up.
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