AOL privacy (not)

[Edgar Swank]

AOL RECORDS USED TO SOLVE MURDER CASE
Fairfax County, Va. police recently obtained a search warrant for electronic
files relating to participants in an American Online chat room in an effort
to solve a murder in New Jersey.  The victim had met his alleged assailant
through a "men for men" chat room, and investigators say several other chat
room participants helped in disposing of the body.  One of them, a
24-year-old woman, is now charged with tampering with the evidence.  An AOL
spokeswoman said that it is the company's policy to comply with subpoenas,
and that although it does not keep records from chat rooms, it does keep
records of e-mail for five days before they are purged.  "We certainly
respect and abide by our customers' right to privacy, but we are also going
to follow the law.  We have 4.5 million customers -- that's the size of a
city.  When we have some problems, we have to deal with it responsibly."
(St. Petersburg Times 28 Jan 96)

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edgar at Garg.Campbell.CA.US (Edgar Swank)
The Land of Garg BBS -- +1 408 378-5108