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Are my Instant Messaging conversations private?

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One of the extremely common questions I get is how to hack into someone else's instant messaging history, or how to recover an IM chat that may, or may not, have been archived.

Those answers vary based on the instant messaging client that you are using. But there's something else recently discovered that's much more disturbing.

AOL has the right to read, and even publish publicly, your private IM conversations.

Yikes.

As reported recently by Aunty-Spam, the AOL terms of service for AOL Instant Messenger includes this very clear, and very scary phrase: "You waive any right to privacy." It goes on to discuss how AOL may use your instant messages in any way it sees fit, at any time.

Again, I say, Yikes!

Now, I doubt seriously whether AOL is interested in the gushing's of a 13 year old IMing her best friend of the week wondering her boyfriend's really 'all that' or not. But, as I've commented on before, people are using free services for business-critical purposes. Are you using AIM to discuss sensitive, private material? What would happen to you, or your business, if AOL decided that your conversation was a good example to publish on the web for all to see?

All together now: Yikes!

So don't. Personally, I'd run away from AOL Instant Messenger (and ICQ, which is owned by AOL and has the same terms of service) for anything that you wouldn't want the world to see. In a business setting? Using an encrypted, business class IM solution. But run away from the free solutions. As with free email, you're just asking for problems.

Related:

Article 3440 | Posted March 14, 2005

Recent Comments
44 Comments

If a friend logged in at her house on my name and I came home and logged in on my name, would her chat be on my computer at home?

Posted by: lacelon at May 9, 2007 9:23 PM

is their a way to veiw old conversations even if their not saved on my computer

Posted by: kristin at May 15, 2007 3:33 PM

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

No.

Not unless you get a court order and get the IM service to provide
them if they've saved them at all, which is also unlikely.

So once again: no.

Leo
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Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFGSjhmCMEe9B/8oqERAnS8AJ41vAzJDfwSfLHoB50m6lsiR02FOwCgjLRl
3VJ7CYp0nq6JYsHDDiRlTwQ=
=YISs
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Posted by: Leo at May 15, 2007 3:47 PM

Hey.
My boyfriend and I have had private convos on AIM and my mother "womehow" dug them up. Now she is questioning all of our IMs. How do I go and delete the convos before she can get to them? Better yet, how can i get access to them?

Posted by: Meg at May 24, 2007 4:54 PM

I have private convos with my friends all the time on AIM. My mom somehow always seems to read them and i don't know how. It is my convo and she has no right to read them. How can i get access to them after i X out of the convo box? How can i read them before she can?

Posted by: Lee<3 at June 3, 2007 7:57 AM

how do I get rid of AIM convos? when I have a boyfriend i had some pretty private convos I dont want my mother to see

Posted by: lex at July 30, 2007 8:02 PM

LEO!! my mother is secretly reading my IMs how can i prevent that and make sure they are deleted?? HELP! she needs to trust me and not invade my privacy!

Posted by: Katie at August 15, 2007 3:53 PM

this is not true, and this is the website to prove that it is not true, stating that AIM does not read your private AIM conversations, which they rightfully shouldn't ...


http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/aim.asp

Posted by: mary at October 5, 2007 9:19 PM

I am a mom and want to know how to look at my son's (14) IM conversations after he has logged out. Is it possible?

Posted by: Barbara at November 4, 2007 3:30 PM

Is there way for me to recover or view old IM conversations with another AOL member. If so, how.

Posted by: Spunky at October 19, 2008 2:30 PM

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