Why Online Privacy Matters

I was a five-year employee at AOL headquarters beginning in 1994 (“The Cyberschmoozer,” by Matthew Heller, July 31). Even when it was a small company and many of us had access to customer databases, the use of that information for anything other than what was necessary to do our job was not condoned, suggested, encouraged or allowed. Of course, the door was open, but that didn’t mean we felt entitled to misuse confidential data, as Heather Robinson boasts she did.

People like Robinson scare me because they wreak havoc with personal information. Many of them are at the root of this epidemic of identity theft. Frankly, I’m surprised that she didn’t help herself to a few credit card numbers while she was trolling around. Maybe she got herself a one-shot movie deal through corrupt behavior and an appalling lack of judgment, but I wonder who will be foolish enough to hire her or work with her in the future.

Kevin Schoeler

Santa Monica