Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all collect and use consumer data to run and improve their services. All of the search engines make significant efforts to protect user data and have privacy policies relating to the data they collect and store to protect their customers.

• What do the policies include?
• What personal information and data is collected?
• What is the information collected used for?
• What choice and options does a user have over the information collected?
• What security do search engines employ to protect user data?
• If a user has a query about the data collected about them in search engines, who do they contact?
• What data is collected by agencies and advertisers?
• Useful links

What do the policies include?

Each of the search engines offers explanations of:

• Personal information and other data collected;
• Uses of the information collected;
• The choice and options a user has over the information collected;
• Security of information and information sharing;
• Methods of contact

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What personal information and data is collected?

Each of the search engines explain that they collect personal information and data when you visit their sites or third party websites through a number of means including:

• Registration data: when a user registers with the search engine they are asked to create an account.

• Interactions: with content such as a search query.

• Log files: when a user visits a search engine site or third party site information is stored in server logs.

• Cookies: when a user visits a search engine a cookie is stored on their computer making their browser uniquely identifiable. The cookie records details on how a person searches to improve their experience in the future. This does not include personally identifiable information.

• IP addresses: each computer or device used to access the internet will usually have a unique IP address, a short series of numbers. IP addresses are automatically collected by all websites including search engines.

• Web beacons: Yahoo offers web beacons to advertisers. These are files embedded into web pages that communicate with cookies on a person’s computer to track their activity on the search engine and on advertiser websites.

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What is the information collected used for?

Each of the search engines use the information they collect to:

• Operate their existing services
• Improve their services
• Personalise content and advertising
• Provide anonymous reporting to internal and external clients

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What choice and options does a user have over the information collected?

The IAB, of course, recommends that people are aware of the information being collected by search engine. However, it is important to remember that this information is used to provide you with a better service and more relevant advertising.

Each search engine offers the chance to opt-out of data collection by a number of approaches. These include:

• Cookies: people have the option to opt-out of cookies by switching them off on their browser. Switching off cookies prevents people being identified by the search engine and other websites on subsequent visits. All search engines offer instructions to do this. However, all search engines also state that their services may not function to the same standard without cookies.

• Registration: by not setting up or using an account, people can opt out of personal data collection tied to their accounts. However, people then won’t be able to use services that require an account.

• View, correct and delete: when requested to do so, search marketing engines will do everything reasonable to provide people with their stored information. People then have the opportunity to correct or delete their information. Information provided when registering for an account on a search engine can be edited at anytime on all of the search engines.

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What security do search engines employ to protect user data?

Each of the search engines take many precautions to protect user data including:

• All search engines have security procedures and systems in place both online and offline to protect user data.
• No search engines sell user information.
• They share information only with third party companies that require the information to complete the services requested by the user.
• Additionally, Microsoft and Yahoo! are both TRUSTe verified [1].

If a user has a query about the data collected about them in search engines, who do they contact?

Each of the search engines offers a method of contact within their privacy policies to answer questions.

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What data is collected by agencies and advertisers?

Agencies and advertisers also collect anonymous user data in relation to search through their user analytics programmes such as DART for agencies and Site Intelligence, WebTrends and Google Analytics for advertisers.

These programmes track where a click has come from, a user’s IP address, the keyterm used to find the advert, the volume of traffic and the user journey through the advertiser website. None of the data can be associated with consumers’ personal details but it can be tracked at an individual level using the IP address.

Advertisers must make it clear within their own privacy policy that they are collecting this data.

Useful links

Their privacy policies can be found using the links in the table below:

• Microsoft Online Privacy Notice Highlights
• Microsoft adCenter Privacy Policy
• Microsoft Online Privacy Statement

• Yahoo! Privacy and Cookie Policy

• Google Privacy Policies
• Google’s main Privacy Policy

1. TRUSTe certify and monitor web site privacy and email policies, monitor practices, and resolve consumer privacy problems. For more information visit www.truste.org/

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