Google cuts time it retains users’ records

Google Inc. cut the time it keeps the personal search records of its users, an effort to quell privacy concerns raised by European regulators.

The owner of the most popular Internet search engine will retain the records for 18 months, down from 18 to 24 months. Google described the new policy in a post on its website written by Peter Fleischer, chief privacy lawyer for the Mountain View, Calif.-based company.

Privacy groups have expressed concern that search engines collect too much user information during Internet queries. Google said last month that it received a letter from the European Union’s data-protection advisory agency asking the company to explain why it kept records of users’ searches. Fleischer responded by sending a letter Sunday to Peter Schaar, chairman of the EU’s Data Protection Working Party in Brussels.

Google needs to keep logs of personal queries to refine the quality of searches and to prevent fraud and abuse, Fleischer said. He also said there was confusion throughout Europe about different countries’ privacy guidelines and the time search logs should be kept.

Future data-retention laws may require the company to raise the period to 24 months, he said in his post Tuesday.

Shares of Google fell $6.57, or 1.3%, to $504.77.