Google To Remove All Search Engine Queries After Two Year Period
In the wake of growing concerns about Internet security, Google announced recently that they will be implementing a new policy of data retention, which will involve the deletion of all search engine queries after a period of 18 to 24 months.
Google is the first major search engine to set such a time limit for information retention, and has pledged to begin this process before the end of 2007. Search Engine query information can reveal much about an individual user, based on the number of queries about certain topics, which has recently sparked criticism of Googles previous policy of keeping these logs of information for an indefinite period.
In a statement released by the leading search engine, spokespersons for Google responded to this radical new policy change by explaining that it is in response to feedback form both privacy groups and government agencies, and that the new policy will provide better privacy protection for its users. The amount of time that queries will be kept before deletion, they explain, is the time period required by many foreign laws which state that user...