How to use AOL email anonymously (hint: don’t use AOL at all).

I’ve got an Anti-AOL reader who recently used their AOL email to whistleblow in such a way that their life is now possibly endangered. Given that this person got to this point over not knowing how to send anonymous email anonymously, I thought a quick tutorial on how to do it right, especially if you use AOL email, might be a good idea.

When using AOL email is a fairly safe and anonymous way to communicate

1. When you sign into AOL’s dial-up software (the thing that yells “You’ve got mail!”) with your computer’s dial-up modem as your only connection to the Internet while using an anon-looking username that reveals no personal info in your AOL or Bebo profile. So you sit down at your PC, open your AOL software, sign in as gooblygookhaha!1!11, then listen as your dial-up modem screeches until it connects. So far, so good. Now you send an email directly from your AOL software. This is a fairly good way to hide your IP address (the number that can reveal your approximate location to others who view the headers of your email). The tl;dr technical explanation on why this is a fairly anon way to communicate is here.
2. HUGE CAVEAT: Even this method is not a bulletproof way to hide your identity or location from anyone. All it takes is one court order from a sufficiently determined party to force AOL to hand over your contact and billing details to any interested legal authority.

When using AOL email is not a fairly safe nor anonymous way to communicate (that is: most of the time)

1. Say you sign into AOL’s dial-up software with any username that resembles your real name, such as iampatsyclineha!ha!1!1. Won’t work. Forget it.
2. Say you sign into AOL’s dial-up software with a username like gooblygookhaha!1!11 but your Bebo or AOL profile contains info like your street address, home state, phone number, pictures of you, other email addresses tied to your real name, AIM and other chat handles tied to your real name, comments indexed by Google under the username, etc. Won’t work. Forget it.
3. Say you sign into AOL’s software at home or work using any ISP besides AOL dial-up (such as Verizon, Comcast, Brighthouse, Time Warner Communications, CenturyLink, etc.). Doing so will reveal your IP address to AOL, which in turn will force your IP to show up in the headers of email you send from AOL or from any other email client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird) or any other online email service (such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) that you use.
4. When you sign into AOL’s online email from any connection to the Internet besides AOL dial-up.
5. When you use your old cell phone, current iPhone, new smart phone, PDA, Blackberry, Android tablet or any other smart/wifi-enabled device to sign into AOL’s online email.

How to ensure you remain anonymous while using AOL email

This is where I review a few key points and make some suggestions to help you play it safe.

1. Don’t use a connection to the Internet from your broadband, DSL, or cell phone service provider to use AOL email. If you use AOL’s dial-up software with your dial-up modem to connect to the Internet, do make sure you sign into AOL with an anon-looking username with no profile/contact info or comments tied to it that might reveal your true identity. Do be aware that even this is not a bulletproof way to remain anonymous.
2. Do use the free wifi (wireless Internet connection) available at public libraries, cafes, and other hotspots where people congregate in large, mostly unknown masses. But for an extra layer of protection, don’t sign into AOL’s online email from any hotspot until you visit a free web proxy. Choose a proxy from the list on any free proxy website by clicking on it, then on the next page you see, type in the address you want to visit (like http://aol.com/), then press the Enter button on your keyboard or click the button next to or below the address box you just filled in.
3. For maximum anonymity, do forget about using AOL email altogether. Also forget about using Hotmail, Yahoo, GMail, or any other “normal” online email service, as all of them will throw your IP address up in the headers of any email you send. Instead, go to your chosen hotspot, connect to a free web proxy (you can then connect to another proxy from the first one, if you’re really paranoid or just need to take every possible precaution), then use a disposable or highly anonymous email address to get your super-seekret business done.

Caveat Emptor, yo: This page does not represent an exhaustive list of options for sending anonymous email, nor does following the suggestions here guarantee you will remain anonymous. Following them may simply help reduce your chances of exposure.

How Google’s New Privacy Policy Will Affect You While You Use AOL

Yesterday on my other blog I asked readers an odd question: “How will Google’s new all-in-one privacy policy affect people who use AOL’s search engine, since it’s “enhanced by Google”?” It’s a question no one’s asked – nor answered before. Without waiting for a response, I fired off two emails: one to AOL’s Privacy Team, the other to Google’s*. My email to AOL is as follows:

To whom it may concern,

I run an informational blog about AOL and am politely requesting an official response to the question, “How does Google’s new privacy policy affect users of AOL’s Google-enhanced search?” Are AOL users (especially those signed into AOL when they perform searches) subjected to Google’s new one-for-all privacy policy, which went into effect on March 1, 2012 and is described by Google here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/?

If so, in what ways exactly are AOL users affected by Google’s policy changes?

Specifically, if an AOL user signs into AOL, for example, with the handle aoluser@aol.com while also signed into Google as, for example, googleuser@gmail.com, then conducts searches on AOL’s search engine, does Google collect information on aoluser@aol.com’s searches and tie them to googleuser@gmail.com’s account?

Any and all information you can impart on this important topic is appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time in this matter.

Sincerely,
Ms. M. Marie

And this is how AOL responded (with added emphasis my own):

Dear Ms. Marie,

Thank you for your inquiry about how AOL Search enhanced by Google may be impacted by Google’s privacy policy update. Currently, users who visit AOL owned and operated properties or use AOL products (such as AIM, Winamp, AOL Editions, etc.) are not affected by Google’s recent privacy changes, as AOL does not share individual user data with Google. Searches performed through AOL Search are transmitted to Google through an AOL-managed proxy. During this process, unique identifiers (including personally-identifiable information, cookie IDs, AOL usernames, email addresses, full IP addresses, etc.) are removed by the proxy before being submitted to the Google search API. AOL users that choose to consume Google products (e.g. Gmail, Google Toolbar, Google Maps, etc.) while connected to the Internet via the AOL software will be affected by Google’s privacy changes – just as they would be with any other Internet Service Provider.

We are committed to continuing to work closely with Google to ensure we are providing transparency to users of AOL Search. As AOL continues to innovate and develop new products and features, including functionalities from other service providers, we are committed to providing appropriate information and options to our users. Please visit http://privacy.aol.com for the most up to date information and options for the treatment of your AOL information.

Should you have further questions regarding AOL’s collection and use of information, please feel free to contact us at this email address [privacy@aol.com].

Regards,
AOL Privacy Team

In plain English, I think what AOL means is: it doesn’t matter if you’re signed into AOL or Google (or both) when you use AOL search, because all data transmitted by AOL to Google 1) goes through AOL’s proxy servers first, which strips out most of your IP address (and stripping out your IP address, folks, is good, because Google also collects info on you based solely on the IP address you search and use Google on, without even signing in!) and 2) your data is so anonymized by the time it gets from AOL’s proxy servers back to Google’s machines that no one at Google could reliably tie it to your AOL or Google account, anyway.

So now you know that using AOL Search (“enhanced by Google!”) is nearly as good at protecting you from Google’s new privacy policy – which is seen by vast swaths of the Internet as highly intrusive and not privacy-enhancing at all – as searching Google without signing in using any proxy you’ll find on Proxy.org (which is like, a whole list of proxies, dudes…seriously, check them out).

*Google has not yet responded to my request for clarification.

8 Myths About AOL

There are lots of stories going around about AOL lately. Let’s clear some of them up.

1. Myth #1: AOL no longer sells dial-up access.
   False. AOL still sells dial-up and BYOA (Bring-Your-Own-Access). The good news is, AOL is down to 4 million subscribers from an all-time high of 25 million subscribers in 2005, with more subscribers fleeing each month.
2. Myth #2: AOL does nothing but provide dial-up and BYOA access.
   False. AOL does much more. AOL recently thought it was an ad company, but now thinks it’s a media company. Access is something AOL doesn’t “focus” on anymore, because most of AOL’s customer service and tech support calls are handled by employees in India, and the infrastructure for dial-up practically runs itself.
3. Myth #3: AOL still blankets the US with CDs.
   False. AOL does limited distribution of CDs by bundling them with Dex phone books or by sending them to certain bloggers, but other than that, the days of waiting breathlessly for your next coaster are over.
4. Myth #4: The name “AOL” is now written out as “Aol.”.
   False. The new “Aol.” moniker is a prime example of “branding”, like how I changed my blog’s name a few years ago, to improve my, um, “brand”. I’d prefer if you call my blog “Anti-AOL” now, but if you still call it “Marah’s AOL Log”, that’s OK, too. It wasn’t a legal name change, and neither was AOL’s. You can write its name out however you want. I prefer “AOHell” and “Aolol”, myself.
5. Myth #5: “Aol.” is a meaningless brand meant to catch your eye and nothing more.
   Well, yeah. But, no, not technically speaking. False. Supposedly, when you choose Aol., you choose the best brand for your lifestyle. (I know…the whole idea makes me sick, too.) So you don’t visit a blog on AOL; you visit “blog.Aol.” Adding the “Aol.” appendage makes you seem smarter and cooler (or, if you’re old school, l33t3r) than the rest of us.
6. Myth #6: “Aol.” is pronounced…differently, so how do you pronounce it?
   False. You pronounce it the same way.
7. Myth #7: It is still impossible, damn it, to cancel your AOL account.
   False. You can cancel your paid or free AOL account simply by filling out the online cancel form, unless you live in Washington, DC (AOL programmers forgot to let the District of Columbia in on the magic).
8. Myth #8: I can cancel your AOL account for you, if you just leave me a comment anywhere on this blog saying something snotty like, “Do away with my service”.
   Hello people, let’s get real: I can’t do that, OK? But the good news is, I think these people can.

Last US Postmaster at AOL Leaving This Friday

I was afraid to believe it, so I emailed the person in question to be sure, but before she could reply (that was only 5 minutes ago) I found a post that confirms that Annalivia Ford is the last Postmaster left at AOL, and unfortunately she will be leaving this Friday (I ran across the news on a Twitter search for “aol sucks”, go figure).

It’s unclear what will happen once Annalivia is gone, but from what she writes on her blog it looks like AOL India will take over US Postmaster operations. Annalivia, as her final parting act, has done a nice re-working of the Postmaster at AOL site, modernizing the layout and adding contact forms for various webmaster issues, including not being able to send or receive email from AOL users.

The website renovation was actually completed last December (it’s hard to believe it’s been that long since I looked at the Postmaster site, but it has) and was not done by Annalivia alone. I’ve updated my AOL Contact Info page to reflect these changes.

3-3-2010, 2:56PM: Annalivia lets me know what’s going on.

By email, she has informed me that:

It’s been getting more and more difficult as we lost more and more staff. On Jan 13, AOL laid off everyone remaining on the US Postmaster team except me and a programmer. At this juncture, the way to contact AOL Postmaster is through the website I linked from my blog. I truly regret not being able to give you a better answer. Thank you for your kind words on your site – the website was in fact my last big project. My manager and I wanted to create a testament, something useful to leave behind.

Be well.

Annalivia Ford
Senior Technical Account Manager
AOL AntiSpam Operations

3-3-2010, 3:51PM: In a sudden fit of good journalism, I finally thought to ask Annalivia if…

She got laid off. It’s the most obvious question but I forgot to ask! So I emailed her again. She very kindly responded with:

I accepted a different position at another company. The joy went out of my work with the loss of my team. Now, I’m off to do something totally different and …no more layoffs

It must be very demoralizing to see your entire team laid off and to know you’re the only one left. I can’t imagine what it’s like for one person to do the work of an entire department, nor what it must feel like to lose friends, close contacts, and possible mentors on your team. In almost every work situation I’ve been in, I wouldn’t have cared if they took away my boss, but take away my coworkers? It’s unthinkable. I do wish Annalivia the best of luck in her new career.

Commenting Shut Off For AOL News

Hmmmm, what could it mean?

If I ran AOL, I wouldn’t turn comments back on. Ever. While AOL subscribers, for the most part, leave great, informative comments on my blog, don’t get me started on how most of them carry on at AOL News. If AOL staff had a full brain between any of them, they’d either keep commenting turned off or re-enable commenting, but only in Russian or some other incomprehensible to most English-speaking people language.

Questions for web developers who code sites to work for AOL users visiting from AOL proxies…

One of my readers, koshinbay13, has a few questions about coding a website to work for AOL users. After reading about AOL’s caching proxy servers, he’s looking for PHP code to prevent an AOL user’s cookies from getting passed to the next AOL users who show up on his site.

I can’t answer his PHP questions, but I’ve posted a response below to answer the rest of his questions as best as I can. Best answer from any of *you* gets posted to my “how-to” section as a permanent post with your name and website credited if you like.

AOL Message Boards closing fiasco: Welcome to the AOL “Message Blogs”!

Readers tipped me off today that something is wrong with AOL’s Message Boards: in fact, most of them are missing. The UK Message Boards were shut down with no warning whatsoever.* (See the end of this post for my UK boards disclaimer) Many UK chat rooms were also shut down. No one knows where the US Message Boards have gone. When you click on the “Is this the last board left?” topic which is found one-off from AOL’s Message Board home page you’re taken to…I kid you not…Yahoo!, where a board exists for AOL members to wonder aloud where AOL’s message boards went. It’s a bizarre situation.

Welcome! You’ve got PHISH!

Watch out, AOL users. If you see this in your inbox – like I did tonight – then you’ve got Phish. Symptoms of Phish are as follows:

1. You have an irrepressible urge to click on real-looking links to AOL
2. You think this phisher’s email is so convincing
3. You can’t understand why the fine folks at AOL, a multi-billion dollar company, misspell words, mangle grammar and forget to punctuate

Lost Australian email accounts mystery solved – thanks to Wikipedia.

After I got done today responding to Joe Manna on this issue, I started answering my email for the first time in weeks, and one of my reader’s questions about AOL’s email storage policies brought me to Wikipedia’s page on AOL. That wouldn’t normally reveal the answer to something going on at AOL that it seems nobody has the answer for, but lo and behold the page was updated recently (run-on paragraphs abound; the italicized swath was italicized by me):

AOL International Email Accounts closed en masse?

Haven’t had time to delve too deeply into this but throughout December I continued to receive tips that AOL is canceling any free AOL account created “overseas”. Here’s the most recent tip (end of December-ish):

My (free webmail) AOL account has been cancelled. I don’t know why, there was no warning or explanation. I have lodged queries with Yedda.com and see that several other people (who all appear to be in Australia) have the same problem. No response has been received at Yedda.com.