Smaaz’s Blog

Ask.com to Give People Unmatched Privacy Control

July 20th, 2007

Ask.com today announced it will soon be implementing a new product called AskEraser that will offer its searchers unmatched control over their privacy when searching for information on the Web.

With AskEraser, people can ensure that their search history will not be retained by Ask.com. Searchers will have easy access to AskEraser and can change their privacy preference at any time. Once selected, searchers’ privacy settings will be clearly indicated on search results pages so they always know the privacy status of their searches.

“AskEraser is a great solution for those looking for an additional level of privacy when they search online,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. “Anonymous user data can be very useful to enhance search products for all users, and we’re committed to being open and transparent about how such information is used. But we also understand that there are some who are interested in new tools that will help protect their privacy further, and we will give them that control on Ask.com.”

Ask.com engaged in discussions with privacy advocates at the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) as part of the process of developing an approach that gives users the ability to better control their search experience.

“We’re extremely pleased to see a new breed of innovative, competitive tools that allow users greater control over their personal information and online experiences,” said CDT Deputy Director Ari Schwartz. “With today’s announcement, Ask.com has taken an important step toward giving Internet users choice in how they control sensitive information about their online activities.”

With the announcement of AskEraser, Ask.com becomes the only major search engine to commit to giving consumers the control to prevent retention of their search history at the time of their search. AskEraser is expected to be deployed on Ask.com in the U.S. and U.K. by the end of the year, and globally early next year.

In conjunction with the release of AskEraser, Ask.com will also globally implement a new data retention standard that will completely disassociate search history from a user’s IP address or cookie information after 18 months.

Entry Filed under: Ask.com