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Yahoo To Keep User Logs 3 Months

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By JOELLE TESSLER

The Associated Press

Published: December 22, 2008

WASHINGTON - Yahoo said Wednesday that it will shorten the amount of time that it retains data about its users' online behavior - including Internet search records - to three months from 13 months and expand the range of data that it "anonymizes" after that period.

The company's new privacy policy comes amid mounting concerns among regulators and lawmakers from Washington to Europe about how much data big Internet companies are collecting on their users and how that information is being used. Yahoo's announcement also ratchets up the pressure on rivals Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to follow its lead.

In September, Google said it would "anonymize," or mask, the numeric Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses on its server logs after nine months, down from a previous period of 18 months. And Microsoft, which keeps user data for 18 months, said recently it would support an industry standard of six months.

Under Yahoo's new policy, the company will strip out portions of users' IP addresses, alter small tracking files known as "cookies" and delete other potential personally identifiable information after 90 days in most cases. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo also said it will expand the scope of data that it anonymizes.

Yahoo will begin implementing the new policy next month.
European Union regulators have pressured Yahoo, Google and Microsoft over the past year to shorten the amount of time that they hold onto user data. And Congress has begun asking questions about the extent to which Internet and telecommunications companies track where their users go online and use that information to target personalized advertising.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said in a statement that the method of anonymization is more important than how long records are logged. It called on the entire industry to adopt a "high standard."

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said it takes privacy seriously and strives to strike "the appropriate balance between protecting our users' privacy and offering them benefits of data retention, such as better security measures and new innovations." Google did not address whether it would be open to further reductions in the time it maintains user logs.

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