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I give Google a very hard time regarding their stance on user privacy and what they will do with your personally identifiable data. Instead of beating up the reigning search giant News.com took a look at all the major search engine out there and how they rate in retaining information.

For the tin foil hat types the shocker is ASK.com comes in as the most private with your search data… So long as you don’t ask them where Jeeves is.

Search privacy is important because our Googling (and Yahooing, and MSNing and so on) provides a unique glimpse into our personalities and private lives. Search terms have been used to convict a wireless hacker and lock up a man charged with killing his wife. Search engine activity is also a fertile growth area for nosy divorce lawyers and employment disputes.

One relatively simple way to protect your privacy when using search engines is to configure your browser to not permit them to place cookies on your computer. (Here’s an FAQ on the topic.) Another way is to route all your connections through a proxy server such as Anonymizer, Tor or Black Box Search.

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