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A European Union data protection panel on Wednesday criticized Google, Microsoft and Yahoo for operating search engines that it said kept data on individual computer users for too long, in violation of E.U. rules.
The group of 27 E.U. national privacy chiefs, called the Article 29 Working Party, said it would also ask the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the data retention practices of the three search engines violated U.S. law.
In a letter sent Wednesday to the three search engines, the advisory panel to the European Commission asked the companies to appoint outside auditors to verify that their practices of rendering individual data anonymous truly eliminated all links to individuals.
Google was the first search engine to reduce the time it stores search logs,” and the first to make them anonymous, Mr. Verney said. “We develop our policies based on what provides the best experience for users both in terms of respect for their privacy and the quality and security of our services. Our current retention policy represents the most responsible balance between these two important concerns.”
