Plays Based on Web Scandals - User 927 (VIDEO)

The User 927 scandal, a huge web privacy issue back in 2006, has resurfaced in Philadelphia in the form of a theatrical play. The production, aptly named USER 927, was put together by Katharine Clark Gray.

“It’s the world’s first play based on a search log,” said director Michael Alltop.

For a brief recap on the story, AOL released three-month search logs of User 927, who remained anonymous, along with 658,000 other AOL users, in August 2006. After AOL tried justifying what they did as research purposes, they were forced to issue an apology.

“Consumer watchdog site Consumerist.com posted an article identifying the anonymous user number 927 as having an especially chilling search history,” Wikipedia says. “Ben Popken’s posting has since been viewed nearly 4,000 times and referenced on a number of other high-profile sites.”