The NY Times has picked up the AOL fiasco story and brought it home:

A Face Is Exposed for AOL Searcher No. 4417749

Buried in a list of 20 million Web search queries collected by AOL and recently released on the Internet is user No. 4417749. The number was assigned by the company to protect the searcher’s anonymity, but it was not much of a shield.

No. 4417749 conducted hundreds of searches over a three-month period on topics ranging from “numb fingers� to “60 single men� to “dog that urinates on everything.�

And search by search, click by click, the identity of AOL user No. 4417749 became easier to discern. There are queries for “landscapers in Lilburn, Ga,� several people with the last name Arnold and “homes sold in shadow lake subdivision gwinnett county georgia.�

It did not take much investigating to follow that data trail to Thelma Arnold, a 62-year-old widow who lives in Lilburn, Ga., frequently researches her friends’ medical ailments and loves her three dogs. “Those are my searches,� she said, after a reporter read part of the list to her.

I can only assume that the woman who is the subject of this story, as well as the reporter, understand the significance of personalizing the issue.

I can honestly say I am glad I have not been using AOL, although I have nothing to hide. I suppose it is the same feeling as being glad I do not drive cars with exploding tires, even though I consider myself a safe driver.

One of the lessons for AOL will probably be to have a legal, privacy and security approval for any and all data transfers with external entities. I have to believe that their lawyers and security team had no idea that someone was going to post search data for public consumption, and this will probably become a good part of the discussion going forward (if not already).