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T A B L E__T A L K

Which techno-buzzwords do you love to hate? Let it out in Table Talk's Digital Culture area

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R E C E N T L Y

Let's Get This Straight
By Scott Rosenberg
Technospeak, part 2: A turnkey solution in every pot
(02/05/98)

The Net's new turf wars
By Rebecca Vesely
Domain name mavericks take their case to Washington
(02/04/98)

The little city that could
By Doug McLellan
Tacoma's power company rolls its own Net and cable service
(02/03/98)

Drudging admiration
By Mike Godwin
Why the gossip may win in court -- but lose in the press
(02/02/98)

Let's Get This Straight
By Scott Rosenberg
The unholy union of technobabble and marketspeak
(01/30/98)

BROWSE THE ARCHIVES FOR Let's Get This Straight

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What's making users uneasy is the realization that hackers aren't the only threat to privacy. Last August a parody of AOL's CEO appeared in Mad magazine, addressing concerns about high-tech burglar Kevin Mitnick: "My subscribers' card numbers are accessible to someone far more dangerous than him!" Case's parody doppelgänger commented. "ME!!"

In a scramble for profits, AOL itself has resorted to varying degrees of invasiveness. In July, for instance, AOL faced controversy over plans to sell subscribers' home phone numbers to telemarketers. AOL's compromise solution wasn't as well publicized: Users will still receive unsolicited calls, but only from AOL's own stable of telemarketers. In addition, when customers now phone for technical support, staffers try to transfer them to outside telemarketing firms at the end of the call.

AOL has faced questions about its privacy policies since 1994, when Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., expressed concerns about AOL's plan to sell information about customers to marketers. Three years later, privacy advocates at the Electronic Privacy Information Center remain concerned. AOL recently acknowledged that its current marketing plan includes gathering aggregate information about customers' movement through the service, and then using the information to sell more targeted advertisements. The existence of such a database troubles privacy advocates, whether or not the information is attached to a user's identity. And since a recent industry report calculates that nearly 60 percent of the time Americans spend online is spent on AOL, the company is in a unique position to compile records on how that time is spent.

In the McVeigh incident, AOL originally stated it was confident that its policies had been followed. Later, Case's "Community Update" conceded that "this should not have happened, and we deeply regret it." He closed by telling members that "AOL's commitment to protecting the privacy of our members is stronger than ever." Ironically, Case's apology appeared above an icon reading "Click Here to Keep Your Resolutions." It often seems that AOL is more interested in appearing to honor privacy and security than in actually providing it.

In the last 10 months, at least 28 areas of AOL have been altered by hackers. Most fell to human error -- someone with "publishing rights" divulged their password. But AOL's performance in the face of these problems hasn't inspired confidence. Content partners say a memo distributed in October acknowledged that one of AOL's own employees had lost control of a privileged account. Seven areas were modified that night, including Reebok, AOL's Jewish Community Area and even Case's Community Update. (Its second page was retitled "Hey there, Sexy.")

The attacks are getting more sophisticated. After vandals left a manifesto criticizing AOL's NetNoir area, its producer dispensed a carefully crafted response to reporters. But the graffiti artists got a second chance -- weeks later they returned on another purloined account and posted a rebuttal.

AOL has a ways to go before it regains my trust. By the morning after I received that mysterious e-mail message, keyword "TA" had been restored to its original travel pitches. But for nine days afterward, most of the staff areas remained accessible to anyone who'd added them to their bookmark file.

Case needs to work a little harder on his resolutions.

SALON | Feb. 6, 1998

David Cassel edits the AOL List. He has also written for the Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, MSNBC and Wired News.

Come talk about AOL's track record on privacy and security in Table Talk's Digital Culture area.