RealAudio or MP3

AOL caused an uproar last month when it disclosed Internet search terms of 600,000 customers. Although users were identified only by number the New York Times was able to identify one customer by name after studying her searches. The searches of AOL members included private, intimate, and embarrassing information about users.

All major Internet search providers, including Google and Yahoo, maintain detailed databases of users' search histories, and privacy activists worry this information will again fall into the wrong hands.

You can keep your searches private, but you'll have to change your habits and do a little technical work. The following advice comes from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

* Don't put personally identifying information like your name, address, credit card number, or Social Security number in your searches.

* Don't use a search engine operated by your Internet service provider (ISP).

* Don't log in to your search engine or its related services. So, if you have accounts with services like GMail or Yahoo! Mail, don't use Google or Yahoo!'s search engines, respectively. Or, use one browser for your searches and a different browser for your other activities.

* Block "cookies" from your search engine.

* Vary your IP address.

* Use web proxies and anonymizing software that masks your IP address and other information that can be used to track you.

For more detail, see the EFF's white paper.