This isn't true.
https://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/tech/blog/3082956
The terms would appear to indicate that anything generated using AIM is fair game for AOL to use, which would mean private IM communications are not so private.
But Weinstein said that's not the case.
The clause in question specifically refers to something an AIM user might post in a public forum, Weinstein says. He writes:
The related section of the Terms of Service is called "Content You Post" and, as such, logically and legally it relates only to content a user posts in a public area of the service.
If a user posts content in a public area of the service, like a chat room, message board, or other public forum, that information may be used by AOL for other purposes. One example of this might be a user who posts a "Rate a Buddy" photo and thus allows AIM to post it for other AIM users to vote on it. Another might be AOL taking an excerpt from a message board posting on a current news issue and highlighting it in a different area of the service.
In a subsequent phone conversation, Weinstein said that AOL does not monitor AIM traffic, and does not store it. A record of an AIM communication is not saved in any storage medium at AOL, he said.
"AOL does not read person-to-person communications," he said flatly.
The key word is "post." Weinstein said an AIM exchange is not considered posting, but a person-to-person communication, which is covered by this part of the AIM terms:
AOL does not read your private online communications when you use any of the communication tools offered as AIM Products. If, however, you use these tools to disclose information about yourself publicly (for example, in chat rooms or online message boards made available by AIM), other online users may obtain access to any information you provide.
Anyways, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger also have these included in their Terms of Service. So you people that think that fleeting away to those will block out those peering into your conversations are flatout wrong.
And besides- even if the rumor were true, what are the chances of AOL stumbling upon your conversations? There are millions of AIM users, and even billions more conversations. These people do not have the time to sift through your conversations, and even if they did, what do you possibly think they would even bother to use against you? Just use some common sense.
