AOL does not, and will not give out information on IP addresses
Um,
America Online said Thursday that it had received a court order regarding the Melissa virus from a Federal law enforcement agency, but declined to specify the information sought by the court order. "Our policy is to cooperate when presented with a formal request," said Wendy Goldberg, an AOL spokeswoman.-- source
The FBI is scouring e-mail accounts for clues as to who might have been behind the terror attacks on New York City and Washington DC. Two major US internet service providers have already confirmed they are co-operating with the investigation. But privacy advocates are concerned the authorities may stampede over digital civil liberties in their zeal to catch the attackers and prevent possible future terrorist strikes. The FBI has shied from providing details about its investigation, nor whether its controversial Carnivore e-mail monitoring program is involved. The two ISPs concerned, AOL and EarthLink, confirmed they were assisting authorities with information from their user and connection logs. "Following the tragic events on Tuesday we did co-operate with federal investigators and provided them with information that we hope is relevant and helpful to their ongoing criminal investigation," said an AOL spokesman. -- source
New York class action attorneys are accusing America Online Inc.'s Netscape subsidiary of eavesdropping on consumers who download software through its network.--source
America Online (AOL) may have violated its own policy and perhaps the law when it allegedly revealed the identity of a member to a Navy investigator. The United States Navy is recommending that a U.S. sailor be discharged for "Homosexual Conduct Admittance" because he typed the word "gay" on his member profile under "Marital Status."-- source
AOL may be the most used ISP in America - but it is also one of the most abused services. AOL's free messenging service, AOL Instant Messenger or simply "AIM", has been around since 1996. AIM may be a popular service, yet it is also a service that is definitely on the weak side of security, and contains quite a few vulnerabilities. Exploits have been popping up since the day AIM came out, and as Robbie later points out - AOL doesn't care; unless it could hurt their company financially.-- source
Even if they do not have Carnivore hooked up to their servers, it is probable that they are forced to work with law enforcement by more nefarious means:
A recent federal case in Brooklyn, New York, reportedly heard testimony from AOL representatives that it had a firm privacy policy of never disclosing private communications without a court order, but that the legal department regularly reported to law enforcement agencies instances of what it believed to be illegal activity by AOL customers. The way it works is that there are informants in various AOL forums who complain to AOL about objectionable activity, then AOL is obliged to investigate and perhaps report to the law enforcement its findings. AOL can honestly state it does not monitor is users, but must investigate customer complaints. Some, maybe all, of the informants are self-appointed vigilantes or law enforcement agents posing as AOL customers. Law enforcement agents can honestly state they are not illegally surveilling without court order, merely complaining to AOL about objectionable behavior as customers. What is not clear is whether the objectionable acitivity was instigated and promoted by the informants and undercover feds. That is the procedure allegedly followed by Exodus some months back, and may indicate a widespead complicity among ISPs' legal and customer service departments and law enforcement to get around the ECPA. -- source
If you are conducting illegal activity, it is not wise to surf from the place where you are conducting said activity. While it may not be necessary to take extreme measures (booby traps, false identities, mail drops, storage of all computer material on cd-r [no harddrive] so evidence can be destroyed in the microwave in seconds), it would be foolish to entrust corporations such as AOL with your privacy. This is especially true with the recent passage of the PATRIOT act, as well as the creation of John Poindexter's "Total Information Awareness" plan which is to be implemented as part of the new Homeland Security Department.
The knowledge to protect/hide yourself is readily available.
Edited by bowling-name (11/18/02 03:56 AM)
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