Yahoo to purge user data after 90 days

From CNET News.com: Yahoo said Wednesday that it will makes its user logs anonymous within 90 days as it ups the ante on data retention policies.

In a statement, Yahoo said it would also make user data on page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks anonymous as well as its user logs. The only exceptions would be for "fraud, security and legal obligations."

Clearly, Yahoo, Google, and others are racing to the bottom on data retention policies. In particular, Google and Yahoo have been playing a game of privacy leapfrog. There are some differences between the policies though. Yahoo refers to user logs where Google focuses on cookies. With Wednesday's announcement, Yahoo also appears to be addressing cookies, which track user Web behavior, too.

In September, Google said it would make its user logs anonymous after nine months, a vast improvement over its previous 18-month policy. Google, which was pressured by regulators, said that nine months was a good balance between "sometimes conflicting factors like privacy, security and innovation." In July 2007, Yahoo went with a 13-month purge policy.

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