Microsoft pushes privacy protection for search engines and advertising

Microsoft has joined with Ask.com in leading the search and advertising industry to adopt standard privacy principles for search history and click stream data. Google and DoubleClick store search queries and click stream histories on every user...in effort to serve up better search results and advertisements. Google has recently agreed to "anonymize" its search log data after two years.

Microsoft will make search query data anonymous after 18 months by permanently removing cookie IDs, the entire IP address and other identifiers from search terms. Microsoft will also work to give customers more control over what information it uses to personalize their online search experience. In connection with its efforts to support a common industry approach to privacy issues, Microsoft also announced that it will join the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) later this year when it begins to offer third-party ad serving broadly.

Standards of use are needed to make consumers feel comfortable using any search engine, or clicking on any advertisement. As it stands today each search engine and advertising network makes up their own data retention and privacy rules...and they are all different.

What about the government and lawsuit discovery? Personally I feel reasonably comfortable that all the search engines will use my search histories in a reasonable way. I am more concerned about the government monitoring activity and lawyers digging deep in "discovery" on lawsuits, divorces, and both criminal and civil matters. If the search engines have the data the courts can force them to give it up...regardless of their stated privacy policies. The courts can over rule any company policy.

The simple answer is for the search engines and advertising networks to "anonymize" all data they keep, and to delete data after two years. The government and lawyers can't access what doesn't exist. Agreeing to privacy standards and data retention policies will make it safer for everyone to use the Internet.

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Comments

[BlogReader]

Why should I believe Microsoft and how will this be verified? Also do they allow 3rd parties to get at the data? Will it be anonymized before then?

What if the government asks Microsoft 3 years from now for my search data? Will they give it to them?

[Peter Cranstone]

Don,

Check out Microsoft patent #2007/0157227 - Advertising Services Architecture and also patent # 2007/0156522 - Social Context Monitor and post your thoughts to your blog.

Talk about privacy concerns... essentially these patents are monitoring EVERYTHING inside your PC and also NON-PC users (i.e. whose inside your contact database)... they are using all of this for advertising purposes.

Now I know the on/off switch for this is to change to a Mac or Linux, but that's not what's going to happen. Everything is going to have a context monitor - contextual advertising will offset the cost of the OS and App... essentially this is Microsoft's answer to web based app advertising ala Google.

It's a good answer, however what's at the core is your context... and all someone needs to do is insert some additional software to "hook" both the profile and context manager - when that happens any semblance of privacy is instantly vaporised - why? because these two patents require Internet connectivity to work and once you're hooked to the web the data can be routed just about anywhere.

Cheers,

Peter

[Lloyd Budd]

If only it didn't raise my suspicious that this is as much a move against the competition than any real concern about people's privacy.

Your "single answer" of anonymizing all data sounds like it would also eliminate any richer more personalized experiences.

Wonder what opportunities there are for you and Microsoft to lead where you market share means real sacrifices for taking the "high ground".

(Unnecessary use of the "consumers" term in post, when "people" would work as well.)