Ryan Singel
Security

Ask Rolls Out Search Eraser, But Google Will Still Know

Ask.com users can now choose to have their searches erased within hours using a tool called AskEraser that went live Tuesday. The rollout comes nearly 6 months after Ask announced it would build such a tool, an attempt to one-up more popular competitors who promise only to anonymize search records in 12 to 18 months. […]

askeraser.jpg

Ask.com users can now choose to have their searches erased within hours using a tool called AskEraser that went live Tuesday. The rollout comes nearly 6 months after Ask announced it would build such a tool, an attempt to one-up more popular competitors who promise only to anonymize search records in 12 to 18 months.

Ask.com's homepage now has a simple link that users can click on that will turn on and off the service via a non-user identifiable cookie. A searcher's IP address and search terms will then be erased from the server logs after several hours, according to the feature's FAQ.

Ask's feature doesn't let users escape Google's seemingly insatiable hunger for personal data. Since Ask contracts with Google to use its ads on Ask's search results, at least some of this data, if not all of it, will still be stored in Google's databases.

Search engines have been modifying their data retention policies in 2007, due to pressure from government regulators, lawsuits over data spills and a desire to win accolades in the press as the privacy-friendly engine, according to a Center for Democracy and Technology study.

But, Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy says that gaping hole shows why national privacy legislation is necessary:

Some privacy advocates suggest that this announcement shows the “market” is working. No doubt, that’s what Google and the other online advertisers opposed to a serious privacy policy will echo, whispering it to regulators, lawmakers and journalists. Self-regulation, especially with loopholes and exceptions, is no replacement for meaningful consumer protection for all Americans. That’s why a national privacy policy is required.

As Compiler points out today, Ask users who turn on the Eraser lose personalization features during the time it is on.

As an aside, THREAT LEVEL heard that when this was first announced in July, Ask's data group learned of their new responsibility by reading a news clip in the bathroom.

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