Who better to trust than Microsoft!? ":O}

Search privacy gets hot: Microsoft and Ask.com tag-team 

By Joel Hruska | Published: July 23, 2007 - 10:01AM CT
ARS Technica
Microsoft has announced that it will change its current web search privacy policies in response to concern over online privacy and advertising industry consolidation. The company also said that it is joining the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) later this year.
Google to anonymize logs in a nod to privacy advocates

Henceforth, Microsoft will make all Windows Live Search data anonymous after 18 months "unless the company receives user consent for a longer time period," according to the company. The policy will be retroactive and will apply to all Microsoft search portals worldwide. Customer search data will also be stored differently than data explicitly tied to people (e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.), and no correlation of the two data types will be possible. All cookie user identification data will also be removed. For users who opt for longer data retention (for the purposes of customization services), Microsoft promises to be completely transparent with how that data is stored and handled.

Microsoft has also joined forces with Ask.com in calling for the industry to formulate and adopt a specific, common set of privacy standards. Microsoft's claim is that these new standards will give consumers far more control over their data privacy and how such information is used and distributed. In addition, the goal is to give customers a more cohesive single privacy policy, rather than the current patchwork of federal, state, and corporate privacy statutes.... More

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