Comments | xellos303: You have been warned...

xellos303

You have been warned...

Mar 12, 2005 08:36

"AOL has posted new terms of service for AIM, that include the right for AOL to use anything and everything you send through AIM in any way they see fit, without informing you. A sample passage: '...by posting Content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns, agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, ( Read more... )

Comments 6

lunaesia March 12 2005, 14:31:15 UTC

holy crap.

Has AOL teamed up with Homeland Security or something?

currentlymusing March 12 2005, 14:42:29 UTC

WTF?
One can only hope that the number of people online would make it improbable that they would fuck with anything I care about. But haven't AIM records already been available for use in trials? That's probably what they're getting at anyway, I hope.

doubleplusjoy March 12 2005, 17:33:00 UTC

no, they can use it in trials regardless. This, however, is the TOS, not the privacy policy. In the TOS they get to say whatever they like, and make it extraordinarily restrictive on privacy rights. However, their privacy policy,

http://www.aim.com/tos/privacy_policy.adp

is also legally binding, and much less evil. Basically, they seem to be reserving the right to use your conversations and their records of the links you clicked to fine-tune their ads, for legal reasons (including whenever they think they should be concerned for safety - I suppose this leaves the door open for homeland security spying antics). Also, your information (which includes everything AOL has on you, technical info, address, registration info) is more heavily protected than your content in particular (which includes only what you type into the little window to talk). In short, this is business as usual, not anything particularly bad.

xellos303 March 12 2005, 18:06:39 UTC

Can you post this to the same post I made in the Earlhamites community? Or do you mind if I copy it and put it there?

doubleplusjoy March 12 2005, 18:17:04 UTC

If that was directed at me, go ahead, I'm just too oblivious for words.

Aol strailing_smew March 12 2005, 19:40:55 UTC

Well, shit. We're all screwed.

Can we send them a virus that makes their computers freeze up like a bananna daiquiri? That would be really cool. Unlike their commercials.