Microsoft and Ask.com, fourth-largest
search website, have said they are
joining together to promote creation
of a set of privacy principles for
collecting data about people through
online advertising and search
programs.
Yahoo has confirmed that it will get
rid of the personal information from
search queries within 13 months.
Microsoft announced that it has
enhanced the privacy protection for
users of its Windows Live service by
making search query data anonymous
after 18 months. It would do so by
permanently removing ‘cookie’
identifications, the internet protocol
address and other identifiers from
search terms.
Microsoft’s policy matches one that
Google announced earlier in 2007.
The European Union Data Protection
Agency is reviewing the privacy
policies of Google and other search
engines, including those of Microsoft
and Yahoo.
Microsoft said it was responding to
public concern over consolidation of
the online advertisement industry, as
well as increased interest from
government regulators, in its call for
a comprehensive rather than piecemeal
approach to privacy.
All of the internet’s largest search
engines recently changed the way they
handle personal information collected
about millions of Web surfers who use
their free services each day.
In the third week of July 2007, the
Oakland-based Ask.com said it would
not store data on users’ search
queries if they activated its
AskEraser feature, which should be
available by the end of 2007.
The search engines all appear
interested in staying a step ahead of
regulators as the industry digs
personal data to customise online
advertisements tailored to the tastes
and interests of each individual
visitor.
Microsoft, the software company based
in Redmond, Washington, would also
join the Network Advertising
Initiative.
Microsoft said its privacy principles
for its Live Search software and
online advertisement targeting include
telling users about its practices,
allowing users to control their
communication, making search data
anonymous, minimising the amount of
private information collected, and
following the best legal practices in
the industry.
Search engines are facing increased
scrutiny, particularly in Europe, over
their privacy policies and how they
use data to compete for users by
offering more personalized services
and targeted advertising.
The Article 29 Data Protection Working
Party, a group of European Union data
experts that advises the European
Commission, started reviewing Google’s
privacy policies in 2007. A part of
the group will meet in September 2007
to discuss search engines and privacy
in general.
