AOL LLC has fired its chief technology officer (CTO) in the wake of a
controversy in which the Web portal and Internet service provider released
private search results of thousands of its subscribers, the Wall Street Journal
Online reported Monday.
Maureen Govern was fired effective immediately, the paper reported, just short
of her first anniversary as CTO. A researcher and the manager of the research
project at issue also lost their jobs.
AOL has come under criticism from Internet privacy watchdogs after it was
discovered that the company had posted to a research Web site the results of
more than 2 million search queries made by 650,000 AOL subscribers between March
1 and May 31. AOL researchers posted the data online, although it was intended
only for use by AOL researchers.
Even though no personally identifiable information about AOL subscribers was
revealed, the posting of search queries prompted another round of debate about
the privacy rights of people who search online using AOL or other search
engines. AOL has since removed the data from the Web.
Govern was responsible for overseeing the AOL division responsible for the data
release.
AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc. in New York, did not return a call seeking
comment.
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/08/21/aolcto/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
