Legal Research

Ask.com has just announced that you can keep your searches secret on its search engine.  As of today, search engine users can use the AskEraser, located in the top right-hand corner of the Ask.com home page, to delete all search query records.  According to the SF Chronicle's story on the new feature, the AskEraser will eliminate all of your search queries and any related cookies, including IP address and user ID, from Ask.com's servers. Activation of the AskEraser only lasts for 12 months.  After a year, users have to reactivate the AskEraser.

Ask is looking for a way to boost its popularity among search engine users, but I wonder if the AskEraser is the way to do it.  I'm just not sure that the majority of search engine users, particularly those under 30, are super-concerned about search privacy.  According to a recent research study by OCLC, Sharing, Privacy, and Trust in Our Networked World, "the Internet is now an everyday activity like making a phone call or watching TV.  Internet activities are familiar and comfortable and, perhaps as a consequence, are not seen as particularly private."  The study concludes that "privacy matters, but sharing matters more."  The Web is a social experience these days.  For that reason, I think the news about the AskEraser is going to be met with a big shoulder shrug by most searchers.