Yahoo Shortens Data Retention to 90 Days
Posted: December 19th, 2008
Yahoo announced Wednesday that they will be updating their policies regarding how long they will retain user search data. According to their press release,
Under the new policy, Yahoo! will anonymize user log data within 90 days with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations. Yahoo! will also expand the policy to apply not only to search log data but also page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks.
People who use the Yahoo search engine will have their privacy further protected, as compared to using other search engines around. This lowers the chance of identity fraud, harassment, and general privacy concerns. If you are using other search engines, your search data will likely be stored for over a year - usually longer.
Internet privacy activists having been strongly pushing for such a move for some time now. Even without IP information, it is still relatively easy to identify people based on their search behaviour alone. The incident surrounding “Thelma Arnold” is a perfect example of how a little detective work can easily identify an individual.
Taking into account most people’s ignorance and negligence about Internet safety, will this unprecedented move by Yahoo be enough to regain an appreciable amount of the market share? How protected are you from the dangers of the Internet, and what steps do you take to ensure your own safety and privacy?
Tags: privacy, Yahoo
I appreciate this move by Yahoo. Hope its implemented soon. It will protect those who are ignorant about internet safety.