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December 11, 2007

Ask Launches AskEraser

Privacy. It's a topic we discuss quite a bit here at Ask.com. But we we do more than talk about it. We listen to user feedback, industry debate, the CDT and many other sources. And we've responded by launching AskEraser on Ask.com and Ask UK.

Search Privacy When Enabled

AskEraser is a new privacy feature on the Ask site that provides searchers with unprecedented control over their search activity data. You can turn on AskEraser at any time and start searching Ask.com with the confidence that your search activity data will be completely deleted from Ask.com servers within a number of hours.

Since initially announcing the project earlier this year, we've been working hard to make sure that AskEraser hits on all key pieces of user data across all our servers and most importantly, is drop-dead simple for our users. We think we've come up with a clean and simple approach that truly puts the power in the hands of all users.

Our Ten-Second How-To

Starting today, you can turn on AskEraser by simply clicking the "AskEraser" link at the top of the Ask.com home page or search results pages (see image below).

You'll then get a dialog box containing a "Turn on AskEraser" button.

Click "Turn On AskEraser." From that point forward, your search activity will be deleted from our servers.

AskEraser will remain "on" across multiple browser sessions until you turn it off by clicking the "Off" link that will appear in the header.

A Few Key Points to Remember:

- When AskEraser is enabled, your search activity will be completely deleted from Ask servers within a number of hours (we're not being sneaky here - we'll get rid of your search activity ASAP. See the AskEraser FAQ for more information on the deletion process).
- "Search activity" includes your search terms, clicks, IP address and any user/session IDs assigned to you.
- You can turn AskEraser on (or off) at any time and you'll have a constant reminder at the top of the page when AskEraser is on.
- You can read more in the AskEraser FAQ and also brush up on our updated Privacy Policy.

All Part of the Plan

Not long ago, we stated our commitment to completely disassociate search history from a user's IP address and User ID information after 18 months. AskEraser is yet another step toward greater user privacy…and it's not our last. Next year, AskEraser will be launched across the other Ask.com locales, at which point its breadth of coverage will be even further increased.

We're really excited about the possibilities for this and other privacy initiatives and are  looking forward to what's in store for next year. In the meantime, try out AskEraser and let us know what you think.

Michael Leo
Senior Product Manager
Ask.com

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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Ask Launches AskEraser:

» Ask.com Launches AskEraser Giving Searches Ability To Search Anonymously from Search Engine Land: News About Search Engines & Search Marketing
Ask.com has launched AskEraser, giving searchers the ability to search anonymously. Ask.com told us about this tool back in July, and six months later, it's now live for all searchers to use. When a searcher activates AskEraser, Ask will stop recording... [Read More]

Tracked on Dec 11, 2007 5:45:10 AM

» Ask Launches AskEraser from share.websitemagazine.com
Privacy. It's a topic we discuss quite a bit here at Ask.com. But we we do more than talk about it. We listen to user feedback, industry debate, the CDT and many other sources. And we've responded by launching AskEraser on Ask.com and Ask UK. [Read More]

Tracked on Dec 11, 2007 6:39:53 AM

» SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 11, 2007 from Search Engine Land: News About Search Engines & Search Marketing
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.... [Read More]

Tracked on Dec 11, 2007 1:44:05 PM

» Erase Your Search Tracks from Tech Beat
Most people probably don't realize that their online searches are tracked by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. With a new feature called AskEraser, Ask.com is hoping to give people control over the privacy of their online searches.... [Read More]

Tracked on Dec 11, 2007 2:51:26 PM

Comments

Ooh - nice. :)

Posted by: coxy | Dec 11, 2007 8:18:40 AM

It’s a good step forward. I rarely used Ask.com but after reading several news items about the service this morning, I bookmarked Ask.com and will stop in here first more often. I hadn’t seen Ask.com’s home page interface in a while. The simple, elegant design is a breath of fresh air.

If I understand the eraser service correctly, I’m disappointed that Ask.com’s partnership with Google requires that a copy of stored data be sent to Google prior to being deleted. Since Google caved in to the Chinese government, I’m increasingly suspicious of the search engine giant, its ethics and motives.

I rarely allow cookies when surfing and always delete cookies I don’t want before shutting down my browser. After browsing Ask.com and visiting several links, I realized that once I enabled cookies to turn on the eraser, sites I visited through Ask.com were dumping cookies onto my machine. For example, one news site I visited shoved 11 cookies at me -- including one from evil marketing monster Doubleclick.net. I deleted all cookies (except for the eraser cookie), and turned cookies back off. I hope this doesn’t create issues for the eraser cookie and hope Ask.com will address that question in the FAQ.

It will be interesting to watch how this service impacts Ask.com’s market share. Perhaps other companies will step up to the plate.

Posted by: art101 | Dec 11, 2007 11:10:38 AM

Kudos! Last week, one of the big stories at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago was the Orion Panel: Search, Privacy and Community in the Digital Age. And this week, you launch AskEraser. I know you've been working on this since at least July, but what a nice holiday present to the industry. Thanks. And keep listening to user feedback and industry debate. Who knows, it may become a trend.

Posted by: Greg Jarboe | Dec 11, 2007 3:13:29 PM

I’m disappointed that Ask.com’s partnership with Google requires that a copy of stored data be sent to Google prior to being deleted

Posted by: sernak plywood | Dec 12, 2007 1:22:30 AM

This is a giant leap for ask.com. I will stop using Google immediately.

But there is one painful flaw. Normally cookies are off in my Firefox browser. I make exceptions for some sites. When I make an exception for ask.com, AskEraser does not detect it and it demands that I turn cookies on for all other sites too. This is bad because I only want cookies on for ask.com. Can you fix this?

Posted by: Violet Woods | Dec 13, 2007 1:23:49 AM

A search on Ask.com for US auctions Live gives this result below. What the heck is this? You can not even find our domain name?

US Auctions Live - Live Auctions in the US
US Auctions Live is a Live Online Auctions in the US buy and sell listing service. Car auctions and autos including vehicles to boats or real ...
www.theonlineviolin.com/

Ask Google, they know how!!!

Posted by: US Auctions Live | Jan 13, 2008 5:04:38 PM

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Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of IAC Search & Media and may not have been reviewed in advance.

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