The Google search
engine features an
extensive archive of newsgroup posts to Usenet, including about
700 million messages, going back to 1981. This archive was originally
on a now-defunct site called, "Deja" (formerly "DejaNews")
and was bought by Google in February 2001.
We strongly advise using their Advanced
Groups Search page, to find any of your own posts, according to
name, email address, and specific newsgroup in which you may have posted.
Any time you post a message to Usenet, it has a high risk of being
archived in Google's searchable database. Asking about an intimate medical
issue? Discussing problems with your employer or school? Voicing an
unpopular opinion? Into the public archive it goes, to be found at any
time by prospective employers, landlords, "friends," stalkers,
the government, net.kooks, and other assorted snoops.
So What Can You Do?
1. Check your newsreader's (Agent, Netscape, Outlook, etc.) "Help"
menu too see if you can add the "X-No-archive: yes" line to
the headers of your posts. If so, add it.
2. Otherwise, make sure to included the line:
X-No-archive: yes
on the first line of all of your Usenet posts. It should look exactly
like the example (note the single space between the colon and the "yes.")
Do not use any quotes. Do not type anything else on that
first line.
This command signals Google to that you
do not want the post to be archived, and should prevent it from
appearing in searches.
3. If there are already posts by you included in the archive, then
you can request that those posts be deleted (a.k.a. to "nuke"
a post.) If you still have access to the email address which you used
on your original post, then you can try their Automatic
Removal Tool. If you don't have access to your old email address,
then you
can send them your deletion request from your current email address.
It appears that you must at least have a current, valid address, from
which to receive and respond to their confirmation notices. Those deletion
requests are apparently human-reviewed, so figure on at least 3-4 weeks
processing time. If your deletions haven't been done within 8 weeks,
try another set of requests.
Are There Other Usenet Archives?
Yes:
The "Talk
About Network" is a group of Web sites featuring archives of
posts to various Usenet newsgroups, going back to at least November,
2002. They apparently do not respect the "X-No-archive:
yes" header, and they appear to be quite reluctant to remove any
messages. Their Usenet archive includes such sensitive subjects as Support
and Recovery oriented newsgroups. On a positive note, they offer free,
Web-based Usenet newsgroup posting.
News2Web
- A large archive of many newsgroups.
1001 Newsgroups
- Site is in French. Scope and policies are unclear.
Brujulat.net
- Site is in Spanish, but the archived posts are in their original languages
(mostly English.) Policies are unclear.
UseNews - A small
group of Usenet newsgroups archived. Also has a second
and third archive.
There are numerous other Usenet archives, but they are small and obscure,
often focused upon the postings of a particular individual, or esoteric
subjects. The main privacy threat is Google.
Net Privacy Menu
