AOL refutes THAT Homeland Security story as 'complete hoax'

db: We ran a story from FMNN on Sunday which we titled 'US Homeland Security and the AO Hell partnership' - not a bad headline we thought. However, notwithstanding the quality of the headline it appears we - and FMNN - were hoaxed [given that the FMNN story has been removed our confidence in its authenticity is not high]. See comments from Andrew Weinstein [thanks Andrew] of AO Hell below:

That story is a complete hoax. To our knowledge, the Department of Commerce has issued no such report, the media outlet credited for the article (The Financial Reporter) does not appear to exist, nor does the reporter who supposedly wrote it.

More important, the claims in the mythical "report" are totally false. AOL's privacy policy, a part of our contract with members, requires that we keep member communications confidential except in response to a valid "legal process (for example, a court order, search warrant or subpoena)". We do not provide "unlimited surveillance" or "free and unfettered access" to member information to DHS or any other government agencies. http://about.aol.com/aolnetwork/mem_policy

Andrew Weinstein
Spokesperson
America Online, Inc.