The face of 4417749: Online AOL data pinpoints user

Iria · Aug 9, 2006, 09:45 PM

Source: IHT
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Buried in a list of 20 million Web searches collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher's anonymity, but it was not much of a shield.

No.4417749 conducted hundreds of searches over a three-month period on topics ranging from "numb fingers" to "60 single men" to "dog that urinates on everything."

And search by search, click by click, the identity of AOL user No.4417749 became easier to discern. There are queries for several people with the last name Arnold, for "landscapers in Lilburn," Georgia, and for "homes sold in shadow lake subdivision gwinnett county georgia."

It did not take much investigating to follow that data trail to Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old widow who lives in Lilburn, frequently researches her friends' medical ailments and loves her three dogs. "Those are my searches," she said, after a reporter read part of the list to her.

Aug 9, 2006, 09:45 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	The face of 4417749: Online AOL data pinpoints user Source: IHT __________ Buried in a list of 20 million Web searches collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher's anonymity, but it was not much of a shield. No.4417749 conducted hundreds of searches over a three-month period on topics ranging from "numb fingers" to "60 single men" to "dog that urinates on everything." And search by search, click by click, the identity of AOL user No.4417749 became easier to discern. There are queries for several people with the last name Arnold, for "landscapers in Lilburn," Georgia, and for "homes sold in shadow lake subdivision gwinnett county georgia." It did not take much investigating to follow that data trail to Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old widow who lives in Lilburn, frequently researches her friends' medical ailments and loves her three dogs. "Those are my searches," she said, after a reporter read part of the list to her.