There was a huge uproar in the online community the past months as AOL accidentally released nearly three months’ worth of search queries of 650,000 of its users.

AOL described the leak as a ‘screw-up’ and apologised to its users for the mistake.  Unsurprisingly, the company was threatened with lawsuits by angry customers.  It has to be said, though, that users were not easily identifiable because AOL has used identification numbers instead of user ID’s in their search logs.

However, after the dust settled, a great debate began.  Bloggers, techies and ordinary surfers were beginning to question the boundaries of privacy.  The debate was fuelled by some of the search queries. 

Take for example, user 17556639, their search queries included: "how to kill your wife" and also: "pictures of dead people".

Such revelations only put more pressure on ISPs to hand over search logs to crime authorities.  Just recently, the US Justice Department had been demanding search logs.  This blunder, it seems, will only strengthen their case.

What do you think?  Should privacy be upheld at any cost or is there a limitation just like freedom of speech and expression?  How would you feel about someone else viewing your search queries?  Do let us know your views.