The search engine Ask.com recently rolled out a privacy feature it promised several months back. Dubbed Ask Eraser, the new feature lets users tell Ask not to keep any information about them. (Most search engines keep detailed info about queries and track them via IP addresses.) AskEraser FAQ.
The new feature doubtless reduces the amount of information you generate online, but privacy advocates complain that Ask still sends partners such as Google (and possibly federal agencies) enough info to track of your searches.
As someone who worries little about whether advertisers get a lot of info about me, I can’t say Ask Eraser will make me abandon Google, but folks who’d like a bit more privacy may wish to give it a try. Just go to the main Ask site and click at on “Ask Eraser” at the upper right.
Other folks may enjoy reading some of the back-and-forth between Ask and its very outraged critics. Here’s a combat-laden article from Wired. Here’s a Cnet story that says the privacy advocates went a bit overboard with some of their claims.
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