http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19185549/Google on Tuesday made fresh concessions to European Union data protection officials, agreeing to limit the amount of time it keeps users' personal search data to 18 months. The US internet group also said it would "radically redesign" its policy on keeping information from "cookies" or identifier programmes on individual computers.
Google cookies are set to expire after 30 years but this could be cut down to just two in the face of European Union criticism. This is the second time in the past four months that Google has announced changes to its privacy policy in response to pressure from the Article 29 working party, a group of national officials that advises the European Union on privacy policy.
Officials are worried that data from Google searches and cookies can be used to identify individuals and create profiles of their political opinions, religious beliefs and sexual preferences.
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