AOL Execs Depart in Search Data Leak Aftermath
According to an internal memo, AOL CTO Maureen Govern, the individual in charge of the division which accidentally released AOL customer search data, has resigned. Govern formerly served as the CTO of Convergys Corporation and has been with AOL since September 2005. John McKinley, who served as AOL’s CTO from 2003-2005, will take over Govern’s responsibilities temporarily. Also, the researcher who released the data, and that researcher’s immediate supervisor have also walked the plank.
The search data for about 658,000 AOL customers was released earlier this month and was intended to help search researchers. The searches were supposedly anonymous, with each searcher identified by a random number. But one New York Times reporter was able to track down the identity of one individual in only a few days based on the user’s search terms. Once AOL released the data had been released, it quickly removed it a few days later and issued an official apology on August 7th.
“This was a screw-up, and we’re angry and upset about it. It was an innocent enough attempt to reach out to the academic community with new research tools, but it was obviously not appropriately vetted, and if it had been, it would have been stopped in an instant,” said AOL in the apology.
AOL also plans to form a task force headed by AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis and general counsel Randy Boe, to strengthen its customer information policy.
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