WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, today applauded the decision by Yahoo! Inc. to decrease the amount of time they keep personal information about online searches and consumer web use to 90 days, after which that information will be effectively anonymized:

"Privacy is a cornerstone of freedom and I applaud Yahoo's announcement today for recognizing that consumers deserve ample privacy protections in the digital era to ensure trust and freedom on the Internet.  I have been pressing online companies for greater voluntary efforts to refrain from the massive, systematic gathering of information about individual consumer web use and the long term retention of such data in a form that can identify the web habits, interests, searches, and purchases of individual Americans," said Rep. Markey.

"Today, Yahoo voluntarily sets a new standard for such privacy protection, a standard against which Microsoft, Google, and others will now be compared.  I urge other leading online companies to match or beat the commitments announced by Yahoo."

Rep. Markey, a long-time privacy advocate, has raised several online privacy issues during hearings in the past two years and intends to introduce comprehensive electronic privacy legislation in the 111th Congress.

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