Ask.com Bumps Up The Privacy

Where many companies are being ridiculed for their privacy practices, Ask.com is looking to increase the users’ control over their personal data by offering a new feature that allows them to delete information on their search queries.

The search engine’s homepage will feature a link called “AskEraser”. The link will also be on all search results pages with a choice whether the feature should be “On” or “Off” according to Reuters. Ask.com’s CEO Jim Lanzone said in an interview with Reuters, “We take significant steps to protect any data that’s stored in our servers, but for those people who want to take extra precautions, AskEraser let them take the issue completely off the table.”

When turned “On,” AskEraser deletes a user’s cookies, or identifying information from their computers. This feature has become available today in the U.S. and the U.K. and will become available globally next year.