Heads have rolled ... but EFF isn't satisfied.

AOL announced the resignation of its chief technology officer today, following two weeks of intense criticism from privacy advocates after members of its research staff released hundreds of thousands of its customers’ personal Web search queries.

The researcher, Dr. Abdur Chowdhury, and a manager overseeing the project were dismissed.

AOL also said it planned to beef up data privacy protections, reconsider the length of time that it holds onto the millions of search queries that customers make every day, and re-educate its own employees about the sensitivity of personal data.

In another article, Marc Rotenberg says:

"AOL could do a real service to the online community if it would commit to permanently (deleting) all personal search details and challenge other search companies to do the same."

Also in this article, CDT's Ari Schwartz disses the Markey bill, instead calling on the industry to fix itself.

Meanwhile, Chertoff moves to outflank the public:

"As we have broadened information sharing, we have made sure that there are strict rules in effect...that prevent people from misusing that information or putting it out improperly," he said. "That's built into the DNA of this and all of our intelligence-sharing capabilities."

I can see Jon Stewart making fun of "built into the DNA."

In case the bio metaphor didn't do it for you, he also offers an EE/astro/aero option:

"The whole name of the game here with counterterrorism is information sharing and early warning," Chertoff said. "Our radar for terrorism is intelligence...It is the radar of the 21st century, and if we let that radar go down, we're going to be flying blind."

It's radar, for Pete's sake! Don't you realize that radar defeated the Nazis? Either you're for data retention, or you're a Fascist.