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From the News Desk
Wednesday, 12. December 2007
Ask.com Keen on Protecting User Privacy with AskEraser
Web search site Ask.com has launched a feature that allows users to delete data on their search queries in an effort to bolster personal privacy while surfing the Internet.
The new feature titled AskEraser will be featured on the site's homepage and the corresponding search results pages. The feature allows user to control whether they want their searched data to be retained by the search engine or not.
This is done by selecting if the feature should be "On" or "Off" as the user searches for information. Information can be erased from all Ask.com services, including Web, Images, AskCity, News, Blogs, Video and Maps & Directions.
"For people who are worried about search privacy, we let them take the issue off the table completely rather than dickering with questions about how long we'll store their search information or what we do with it," said Jim Lanzone, Ask.com's chief executive.
The information typed by users of AskEraser into Ask.com will not disappear immediately, but will first be sent to Google.com. The company recently signed a five-year contract with Google, allowing them to serve ads alongside Ask.com search results. Currently, Google does not have any obligation to delete the data even if the user from Ask.com has selected to use the AskEraser feature.
Ask.com, owned by InterActive Corp., earlier this year instituted a data retention policy to separate a person's search history from their identifying Internet information after 18 months.
The new features comes after nearly 700,000 people joined an online protest, which resulted in Facebook.com allowing users to turn off a feature that tracked what they purchased online.
AskEraser is available immediately for users in U.S. and UK and will expand to global sites in 2008.
The new feature titled AskEraser will be featured on the site's homepage and the corresponding search results pages. The feature allows user to control whether they want their searched data to be retained by the search engine or not.
This is done by selecting if the feature should be "On" or "Off" as the user searches for information. Information can be erased from all Ask.com services, including Web, Images, AskCity, News, Blogs, Video and Maps & Directions.
"For people who are worried about search privacy, we let them take the issue off the table completely rather than dickering with questions about how long we'll store their search information or what we do with it," said Jim Lanzone, Ask.com's chief executive.
The information typed by users of AskEraser into Ask.com will not disappear immediately, but will first be sent to Google.com. The company recently signed a five-year contract with Google, allowing them to serve ads alongside Ask.com search results. Currently, Google does not have any obligation to delete the data even if the user from Ask.com has selected to use the AskEraser feature.
Ask.com, owned by InterActive Corp., earlier this year instituted a data retention policy to separate a person's search history from their identifying Internet information after 18 months.
The new features comes after nearly 700,000 people joined an online protest, which resulted in Facebook.com allowing users to turn off a feature that tracked what they purchased online.
AskEraser is available immediately for users in U.S. and UK and will expand to global sites in 2008.
