This figure represents the lower end limit of the 18-24 month period originally forwarded to the regulators last March - but with the proviso that Google were doing this to prevent any further cuts to the allowed time period, due to the fact that this would undermine the quality of Google's products and ability to analyse these products over time.
Peter Fleischer, head of Google's global privacy counsel, commented:
"After considering the Working Party's concerns, we are announcing a new policy: to anonymise our search server logs after 18 months, rather than the previously established period of 18 to 24 months."
The server logs refer to software that stores web search histories. He added:
"We believe that we can still address our legitimate interests in security, innovation and anti-fraud efforts with this shorter period."
As always, Google has sought to take the lead in establishing best practices, industry rules and global norms, in this case with respect to the acquisition and retention of online user data. Most data gathered by Google is retained by cookies which track user habits in all sorts of ways.
The EU industry watchdog has expressed concerns that information about a user's habits and searches could be potentially used by unscrupulous advertisers and possibly even by those attempting smear campaigns. However, Google remains firmly adamant that it never shares personal information outside of the company.
The announcement comes shortly after UK watchdog Privacy International slammed Google's commitment to privacy in a report released over the weekend.
