Microsoft has announced that it will delete all IP addresses logged by its servers for Bing search queries after six months.

"Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist, described the data retention policy change as a reflection of the company's business needs, the competitive landscape, and dialogue with privacy and consumer advocates and regulators," writes InformationWeek's Thomas Claburn.

"In September 2008, Google said it would start anonymizing IP addresses after nine months, down from 18 previously, and cookies after 18 months," Claburn notes. "However, Google's anonymization method, removing the last of the four sets of numbers in an IP address, has been criticized as insufficient."

Click here to read the InformationWeek article.