How do you use user data you collect via the opt-in Toolbar feature?
Yahoo! uses user data it collects consistently with its stated privacy policies.
The relationship and trust we have with our users is one of the core tenets of this company. We are moving forward with a new approach to user search data.
Yahoo’s new global policy is: All search log data will be anonymized within 13 months of collection except where users request otherwise or where Yahoo! is required to retain the information to comply with legal obligations.
Search logs will be anonymized by removing portions of the IP Address and personally identifiable Cookie IDs.
We believe the 13 month policy is the appropriate timeline to meet our commitment to our users’ privacy while preserving our ability to continue to defend against fraudulent activity and continue to improve our services to advertisers, publishers and users.
As leaders in this industry, we need to constantly look at what we are doing to strengthen this trust with users while continuing to build our business with better insights into how we can best serve our users, advertisers and publishers.
Additionally:
Yahoo! will be building a personal information filter to attempt to scrub from search logs queries that may contain personally identifying information.
Yahoo! will also limit cookie expiration dates to 2 years going forward but will allow a refresh of the expiration date upon visiting a Yahoo! property. This approach has emerged as an industry best practice for 1st party and 3rd party cookies.