Comments for Are my Instant Messaging conversations private?

Comment from Lucy on 2010-10-30

2010-10-31T04:04:00Z

If AOL is the owner of my transcripts, there is a way I could read them online? I mean, can I see my historial without login at AIM server?

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Comment from bopup.com on 2010-01-23

2010-01-23T14:52:07Z

Use private IM software with strong encryption to be sure that your conversations and file transfers are safe.
www.blabsoft.com

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Comment from lissann on 2009-10-30

2009-10-30T15:47:29Z

is there a way that you can make your aim logs private

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Comment from tors on 2009-05-18

2009-05-19T01:32:46Z

you go to actions, then clear history so ur mom cant read them

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Comment from Kelsey on 2009-02-18

2009-02-18T16:45:02Z

If you are worried about anyone reading or creating a log of your instant messaging conversations, you can use a private instant messaging program. I am a blogger for Brosix, and they offer a corporate and a free version of their program, which is on secure servers so no one can hack into and save or read your conversations.

Brosix.com

Brosix Blog

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Comment from dakota on 2009-02-18

2009-02-18T11:33:24Z

see when you compromise your sons privacy that he trusts you respect BARBRA you lose your sons trust. I know your a mom but for him to feel safe and able to talk to you you cant dig it invades him makes him feel unsafe and violated if he cant feel safe at home where will he get that security from? Think before you violate your own child's privacy. I'm just recommending this you don't have to but just give a little more trust a relationship with your child works both ways.

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Comment from Spunky on 2008-10-19

2008-10-19T21:30:38Z

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

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Comment from Barbara on 2007-11-04

2007-11-04T23:30:30Z

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?

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Comment from mary on 2007-10-05

2007-10-06T04:19:03Z

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

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Comment from Katie on 2007-08-15

2007-08-15T22:53:18Z

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!

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Comment from lex on 2007-07-30

2007-07-31T03:02:07Z

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

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Comment from on 2007-06-03

2007-06-03T14:57:41Z

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?

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Comment from Meg on 2007-05-24

2007-05-24T23:54:03Z

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?

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Comment from Leo on 2007-05-15

2007-05-15T22:47:22Z

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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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Comment from kristin on 2007-05-15

2007-05-15T22:33:40Z

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

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Comment from lacelon on 2007-05-09

2007-05-10T04:23:53Z

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?

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2007-03-03

2007-03-03T17:56:45Z

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

No, not normally. There are tools out there that will, but the default
in Windows and IE is that they just don't know about all the possible IM
programs you could be running, so they wouldn't know what to delete.

Leo
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Comment from Gary on 2007-03-02

2007-03-03T03:50:10Z

Leo! Does a history delete clear IM text from my computer.Info i need to know.

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Comment from niharika on 2006-08-31

2006-09-01T05:28:32Z

For windows messenger on win xp there are no message archiving options as such,but still does windows messenger archive the chat messages in some location by default??

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2006-06-22

2006-06-22T21:04:38Z

That's this article: http://ask-leo.com/can_i_retrieve_old_aol_instant_messenger_conversations.html

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Comment from jon on 2006-06-22

2006-06-22T21:02:40Z

i had a very important aim conversation just recently and accidently X'd the window. is there a way i can recover and get that conversation back?

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2006-06-22

2006-06-22T19:45:57Z

Maybe. It depends on what programs you used, whether or not either of you had "save conversations" turned on, and whether his dad had already installed monitoring software on the machine or his network.

In most caes the answer is simply "no", but ya never know. He could be bluffing ... or not.

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Comment from Annie on 2006-06-22

2006-06-22T19:43:07Z

so my boyfriend && me had some really private conversations and his dad just told him he is getting a program to recover all of his past IM conversations..is that possible??

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Comment from Lindsay on 2006-02-19

2006-02-20T01:09:16Z

can you tell me how to delete my instant messages after im done?

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-12

2006-02-13T03:20:38Z

You don't. If you didn't save it, there's nothing to find.

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Comment from bobby on 2006-02-12

2006-02-12T23:10:47Z

how do you find an old conversation you had with someone if you never saved it. Like all the conversations are usually saved to ur computer automatically but how do i find them>? please email me and let me know

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Comment from Spencer on 2006-01-18

2006-01-18T18:54:16Z

i have a legal accusation that i can only settle if i have an old instant message and i dont know how to find it on aol 9.0 can you please help me as soon as possible

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Comment from Leo on 2005-09-26

2005-09-26T15:41:23Z

I believe http://www.safetysurf.com/ has some recommendations.

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Comment from amy on 2005-09-26

2005-09-26T15:00:35Z

I want to know the best way/program I can get to read my teenage daughter's msn instant messages. I don't have a concern with the web pages and other sites. I know there is an option to save history on msn but she knows how to uncheck the box. I just don't want anything too hi-tech because I work at home and there is a lot of business that I do from these two computers myself. HELP!!

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Comment from Leo on 2005-09-01

2005-09-01T23:16:11Z

You don't. It would be wrong.

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Comment from nik on 2005-09-01

2005-09-01T22:50:39Z

how do i hack into a msn account

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Comment from nick on 2005-08-04

2005-08-05T03:36:54Z

how do I know if my parents are reading my convorsations on aim(like is there a system scan I can do?)

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Comment from Leo on 2005-07-30

2005-07-30T23:50:52Z

Not really, no. It's not easy to hack into, though.

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Comment from unknown on 2005-07-29

2005-07-29T22:06:00Z

can you protect your aim convos from being hacked into?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-07-24

2005-07-24T21:22:50Z

You don't. More here: http://ask-leo.com/can_i_retrieve_old_aol_instant_messenger_conversations.html

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Comment from craig on 2005-07-24

2005-07-24T21:06:23Z

how do i bring back old instant message convos on aim to get inforamtion i accidently "xed" out

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Comment from Joe on 2005-07-16

2005-07-17T04:23:38Z

Thats kinda disturbing... I mean really, think about it... If AOL(tm) is monitoring your personal conversations they are basicalling getting first person access to the private details of your life... And I know alot of people who often vent their rage over AIM and make threats that could be considered "Incriminating" and "Premeditation" to terrible events like school shootings and what not... So if AIM happened to be monitoring a conversation of that nature they could easily turn it over to the athorities...

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Comment from Leo on 2005-07-15

2005-07-15T17:20:12Z

You don't. Not only it is technically impossible, but it's unethical and quite probably illegal.

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Comment from someone on 2005-07-14

2005-07-15T00:05:37Z

How do I read someone else's MSN convo history with a specific person without going onto their computer or anything? aka actually hack it not take advantage of carelessness

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Comment from Leo on 2005-07-06

2005-07-07T03:45:28Z

U DON'T

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Comment from somekid on 2005-07-05

2005-07-06T06:44:05Z

HOW DO U HACK AIM CONVERSATIONS?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-04-29

2005-04-29T16:18:27Z

IMO: that's not hacking, that's just taking advantage of someone's carelessness. But yes, public or shared computers are a HUGE risk for your privacy, and as you can see from the previous poster, easy pickin's if you're not careful.

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Comment from Gabrielle on 2005-04-29

2005-04-29T16:02:01Z

hey, my names gabrielle, im a hacker. i HAVE hacked into friends instant messages, and its not as hard as people make it sound. the easiest way is if you get a a computer (at the library, at school, at your home) that the person has ben on. all you have to do is download. im ion my frens screen names all the time. so yes, it is possible, and sometimes VERY easy. ne ?s, just im me on a screen name ive ben using 2 tok 2 people hoo want 2 no more. its amandababy999, its on aol, neway, l8r yall!!!

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Comment from catherine hencken on 2005-04-21

2005-04-21T19:03:51Z

Leo - I am a user of AIM at home and I want to archive my instant messages, but can't figure out how to turn on the archival feature. Can you tell me how?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-04-02

2005-04-02T22:31:59Z

Like I said, it depends on many things, so it's hard to say just how hard it would be.

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Comment from Diane on 2005-04-02

2005-04-02T22:29:41Z

Thank you, Leo. I've been using MSN IM at work and I'm concerned that someone in our IS department could hack into my conversations. How difficult is it? How much effort would they have to put into doing it?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-04-02

2005-04-02T22:15:17Z

Well, this article covered AOL's Terms Of Service ... and AOL's explicitly said that *they* could read and republish your IM conversations at will. They've since clarified their terms of service.

Microsoft's TOS are different, I believe.

But to answer you question about "hacking", which is something else ... yes, of course, it's possible, though difficult, to hack and listen in on an IM conversation. It depends on many MANY things, but possible? Yes.

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Comment from Diane on 2005-04-02

2005-04-02T22:09:19Z

Is the same true for MSN Instant Messenger? That is, can someone be reading your conversation while you don't know they are there? "Hack" into the conversation?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-03-15

2005-03-16T02:07:09Z

I don't know if it's the EXACT same wording. The AIM TOS was very ambiguous, and could, in fact, be interpreted to mean all your *private* IM's are their's for the having. As it turns out, because of the ruckus, they plan to clarify their TOS soon.

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Comment from Larry Osterman on 2005-03-15

2005-03-15T22:34:14Z

To be fair, that is the exact same ToS that every online publisher has.

They need to have all those legal terms to publish your content.

In other words, since your content is YOUR content, you need to approve AOL's publishing YOUR content on THEIR web site.

The same thing happened with MSN spaces, and again it was a tempest in a teacup.

Here's more info from Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/aim.asp

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