Such a capability is contingent on the reasonable chance that the user at some time provides user-identifying information, whether voluntarily, indirectly, or simply through inference of many seemingly benign pieces of data. (e.g. search records, as shown through simple study of the AOL search records leak). One common way that information can be obtained and linked is when a user registers a computer just after purchase. Another common way is when a user provides identifying information to the website of an affiliate of the vendor.