Mugged by AOL

Wired Strategies
August 3, 1999

VIRTUALLY VIOLATED
What do you do if AOL calls you a criminal?
By John Aravosis

Last night I got mugged by America Online. Was it retaliation for my less-than-flattering expose about them recently booting a subscriber who was seeking public health information? Or was it just bad timing that they sent me an email implying that I was involved in "illegal" activity, only hours after I issued a press release criticizing them?

While we may never know the truth, we do know one thing. In the multi-billion dollar world of America Online, this subscriber is guilty until proven innocent.

It all began last night when I received an email from AOL suggesting that my "screen name" (i.e., my AOL online identity) recently entered a chat room that was "reportedly being used for illegal purposes in violation of AOL's Terms of Service (TOS)." I was warned that "members found in these rooms may lose their AOL membership without further warning."

My curiosity piqued, I called AOL and found out that their records show my account being used to enter a chat room that is notorious for "illegal activity." (I subsequently found out the room is often used for software piracy.) When pushed for more information, the AOL representative told me that my most recent violation occurred at 6:07 PM Eastern Time last night (August 2). As I was in the middle of an hour-long phone call to Italy at that exact time, it was clear that either the assertion was a lie, or someone had stolen my email account.

Then the other shoe dropped. The AOL rep told me that I now had a violation in my "permanent record" and if I got two more violations I could be kicked off of AOL permanently. When I asked for a copy of that record, I was turned down. When I asked them to delete the warning, as this was obviously a case where my account had been stolen, I was told deletions were impossible.

This case raises a number of troubling issues for us all:

1) What is AOL doing monitoring who "enters" their chat rooms? The phone company doesn't routinely monitor your conversations, why should AOL? And which chat rooms does AOL in fact monitor? Anti-government chat rooms? Republican chat rooms?

2) How does AOL justify suggesting you may have committed a crime, simply because you visited a chat room?

3) How does AOL justify creating a file that blames you for the misdeeds of someone who has stolen your account? When your car gets stolen, you don't get a criminal record when the thief causes a hit and run. Why are you more guilty on AOL?

4) Why don't you have the right to review and make corrections in your "permanent record" on AOL? (And if you do, why isn't AOL staff aware of this?)

5) What does AOL do with the permanent records they keep on subscribers? Do they share them with business partners? Can they sell them to direct marketers? Could your family or employer ever get access?

Is this all a bit too paranoid? I don't think so.

Did you know that prosecutors, and plaintiffs in lawsuits, are now having a field day subpoenaing people's "records" from Internet service providers, in an effort to blacken the accused's name? In divorce cases and employer/employee disputes alike, accessing someone's Internet records is now commonplace. With that in mind, shouldn't you have the right to see what AOL has on you, and whether their information is even correct?

If you ever use AOL, send email to friends on AOL, or have ever had your AOL password stolen, be very afraid. When AOL's customer service representative was asked if my experience of the last twelve hours implied that AOL's files routinely blame subscribers for the actions of criminals who steal their accounts, he responded, and I quote: "it happens an extreme amount of time."

So what can you do?
- You can email Steve Case, AOL's CEO, at mailto:stevecase@aol.com - and tell him you demand the right to see your file and correct any errors. You might also want to ask him which chat rooms he's monitoring.
- You also should re-examine whether you really believe that your Internet provider is sufficiently interested in protecting your privacy - and if not, leave them.
- If you have an AOL account, you should re-examine everything you do on AOL, and ask yourself if you'd be comfortable with your boss, mother, or spouse getting a report on your activities.
- Finally, when you hear about efforts to tighten online privacy legislation, support them. The only way to protect yourself is to hold these companies accountable.

So, I come back to my original question. Was it vengeance, arrogance, or simple stupidity that led AOL to send me a letter suggesting that I may have been involved in illegal activity, without even mentioning the possibility that perhaps my account had been stolen? Interestingly, when Eddie Bauer suggested two years ago that three black customers were shoplifters, the gentlemen sued Eddie's butt off to the tune of $1 million. So what's the difference here?

In the end, I'd like to believe this was a simple mistake. Some jerk stole my account, and some other jerk mistakenly sent me an email implying it was my fault. But what bothers me about this whole affair is AOL's inability to treat me as anything more than $21 a month.

As more and more Americans move online for their shopping, banking, and even dating needs, companies like AOL have the ability to electronically track the most intimate details of our private lives. In this brave new world, Internet companies must become more sensitive to their ability to ruin our good names with the click of a mouse.

Until that day comes, I for one may never trust AOL again.



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