Monday, 15 September 2008

Google Bows Down to EU Pressure, Steps Up Privacy Law

Google is apparently trying to get into the good books of the European Union (EU) when it made headlines Thursday that it has decided to reduce the amount of time it stores user search request data from 18 months to nine, meeting European privacy demands...

Google is apparently trying to get into the good books of the European Union (EU) when it made headlines Thursday that it has decided to reduce the amount of time it stores user search request data from 18 months to nine, meeting European privacy demands.

The Internet search behemoth introduced an 18-month limit back in 2007.

The change, which is set to apply to Google’s search Web sites globally, will also be extended to its “Suggest” application, which is a capability that recommends users with their search terms based on their search history.

According to Google, starting this month, such records will only have a 24 hour shelf life.
EU officials have on many occasions questioned the need for search engines to log their user’s searches.

Search engine operators have obvious interest in tracking their users search patterns as it aids in their quest to boost their search and direct advertising needs, an extremely lucrative market for advertisers today.

Competitors Yahoo and Microsoft have also complied to the EU laws, cutting down on their data retention timeline to 13 months and 18 months respectively.