Google is adopting new privacy measures to make it more difficult to connect online search requests with the people making them.
Under revisions announced late last night, Google promised to wrap a cloak of anonymity around the vast amounts of information that the company regularly collects about its millions of users around the world.
Google believes it can provide more assurances of privacy by removing key pieces of identifying information from its system every 18 to 24 months. The timetable is designed to comply with laws around the world that dictate how long search engines are supposed to retain user information.
Authorities still could demand to review personal information before Google purges it or take legal action seeking to force the company to keep the data beyond the new time limits.
Nevertheless, Google's additional safeguards mark the first time it has spelled out precisely how long it will hold onto data that can reveal intimate details about a person's Web-surfing habits.
While Google will still retain reams of information about its users, the changes are supposed to lessen the chances that the company, a government agency or another party will be able to identify the people behind specific search requests.
Privacy experts applauded Google's precautions as a major step in the right direction.
Agencies