gkd_uk
Well-Known Member
Google is to halve the amount of time it stores users' personal search data in response to continued pressure from the EU over its privacy policy.
The search giant has said it will anonymise identifiable IP addresses on its server logs after nine months.
Google said respecting users' privacy is "fundamental to earning and keeping their trust".
In April, an EU advisory body recommended search engines should delete personal data within six months.
Google currently collects and stores information from each search query, holding information about the search query itself, the unique PC address (known as an IP number), and details about how a user makes their searches, such as the web browser that is being used.
The company says it needs this information to improve its various services and to help fight threats such as fraud, spam and malicious attacks, and to aid "valid legal orders" from law enforcement agencies.
It keeps this information for a set period before "anonymising" it - disconnecting the data from an individual.
In June last year, Google announced it was cutting the amount of time such data was stored from 24 to 18 months.
Read more
The search giant has said it will anonymise identifiable IP addresses on its server logs after nine months.
Google said respecting users' privacy is "fundamental to earning and keeping their trust".
In April, an EU advisory body recommended search engines should delete personal data within six months.
Google currently collects and stores information from each search query, holding information about the search query itself, the unique PC address (known as an IP number), and details about how a user makes their searches, such as the web browser that is being used.
The company says it needs this information to improve its various services and to help fight threats such as fraud, spam and malicious attacks, and to aid "valid legal orders" from law enforcement agencies.
It keeps this information for a set period before "anonymising" it - disconnecting the data from an individual.
In June last year, Google announced it was cutting the amount of time such data was stored from 24 to 18 months.
Read more
