About AskEraser
Ask Jeeves Privacy Policy:
Ask Jeeves's privacy policy has been updated to describe the additional privacy options that AskEraser offers you and provide you more information about this product. |
Ask Jeeves is serious about privacy. We are committed to meeting and exceeding emerging privacy trends in the search industry. That is why we offer AskEraser, which, when enabled, deletes your search activity from Ask Jeeves servers within hours, except in rare circumstances as described below.
Your privacy on Ask Jeeves
At Ask Jeeves, we believe that you as a user should have the power to control the usage of your search history. When enabled, AskEraser will completely delete your search queries and data from Ask Jeeves servers, including: your IP address, User ID and Session ID cookies, as well as the complete text of your search query--all within a matter of hours, except in rare circumstances (see Is there any reason Ask Jeeves will stop deleting my search activity?) Eraser does not delete search activity from the servers of third-party partners who may receive your search queries (see What about data collected by third-party partners?).
The AskEraser link is featured prominently in the upper right corner of the home page and Ask Jeeves search results pages--clearly and constantly indicating to you when your search activity will be 'erased' from Ask Jeeves servers. Once enabled, AskEraser remains 'on' across multiple visits and sessions on Ask Jeeves's main search engine as well as across Ask Jeeves's major search verticals: Images, News, Blogs, and Video. AskEraser only works when you perform searches on Ask Jeeves and through Ask Jeeves search boxes embedded within Firefox, Internet Explorer and other browsers (see Where does AskEraser work and where does it not work?). You can turn AskEraser on or off at any time.
It's easy to turn AskEraser on and off, so go ahead and give it a whirl. Go to Ask.com or Ask Jeeves UK today and click on the "AskEraser" link in the top-right corner of the page. For more information about AskEraser, please see the Frequently Asked Questions below.
Frequently Asked Questions
General Information:
Turning on/off AskEraser:
Coverage of AskEraser:
AskEraser and Cookies:
What is AskEraser?
AskEraser is a privacy feature from Ask Jeeves. When AskEraser is enabled, your search activity will be deleted from Ask Jeeves servers except in rare circumstances (see Is there any reason Ask Jeeves will stop deleting my search activity?). AskEraser is currently available to users of our US site (http://www.ask.com) and UK site (http://uk.ask.com).
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What is search activity data?
Search activity data includes information about the pages you visit on Ask Jeeves, including the terms you search for, the links you click, your IP address, and any user or session identifiers. When AskEraser is enabled, Ask Jeeves will delete from our servers all references containing any element of search activity data: query (what you searched for, clicked on, etc.), IP address (where you searched from), and user/session IDs (who you are in relation to previous searches). AskEraser does not delete search queries conducted when AskEraser is not or was not enabled. So, for example, Ask Jeeves will not go back and delete searches that you may have previously conducted when AskEraser was not enabled. Our collection and use of such search queries are subject to our privacy policy.
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Is my search activity deleted immediately?
When AskEraser is enabled, your search activity will ordinarily be deleted from Ask Jeeves servers within a number of hours. In some instances, it may take longer for your search activity to be deleted, such as when we need to run automated systems to detect and block users or automatic bots that are abusing our site (see Is there any reason Ask Jeeves will stop deleting my search activity?)
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Does AskEraser delete personally identifiable information?
AskEraser does not delete personally identifiable information (such as name or e-mail address) you choose to provide to Ask Jeeves (for example, personally identifiable information you opt to save in Ask Jeeves's MyStuff system). Such information will be retained even if AskEraser is turned on.
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How do I turn on AskEraser?
To turn on AskEraser, just click the "AskEraser" link at the top of the page and then click "Turn on AskEraser."
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What happens when AskEraser is on?
When AskEraser is enabled, all Ask Jeeves cookies will be deleted from your browser, one cookie will be set to remember that you have AskEraser turned on, and going forward, your search activity will be deleted from Ask Jeeves servers. AskEraser will remain "on" across multiple visits to the Ask Jeeves site as long as you do not clear your AskEraser cookie and are using the same computer and browser.
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How do I know if AskEraser is enabled?
When AskEraser is enabled you'll see a constant reminder at the top of the page as follows:
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Do I need to turn on AskEraser each time I visit Ask Jeeves?
When you turn on AskEraser, Ask Jeeves sets a cookie to remember your preference across your visits to our site from the same computer and browser. This cookie will be set to expire after 2 years.
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Could AskEraser stop working on my computer?
AskEraser will not work if you clear the AskEraser cookie that enables it or delete all cookies from your machine. You can always determine whether AskEraser is enabled by looking at the notice in the upper right corner of the Ask Jeeves webpage. If the AskEraser cookie has been erased, you will see the AskEraser icon by itself (without the "On" notification). Follow the steps above in How do I turn on AskEraser? and AskEraser will be enabled again.
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What features of Ask Jeeves are not accessible when AskEraser is on?
When AskEraser is on, you will not be able to use a number of personalization options available on the Ask Jeeves site. The primary reason for this is that each of these options requires us to set cookies, requires you to log-in, etc. Some examples of key personalization features that you will not be able to use when AskEraser is on are:
- Homepage Skins: you will not be able to choose a background, or "skin", for our homepage
- MyStuff: you will not be able to access the MyStuff system, or save web links, images, or any other aspects of search results
- MyNews: you will not be able to save and track the progression of news stories found on Ask BigNews (http://news.ask.com)
If you have turned on AskEraser and try to use a personalization option, you will prompted with a pop-up to let you decide whether you would like to turn off AskEraser.
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How do I turn off AskEraser?
To turn off AskEraser, just click the "Off " link next to "AskEraser" at the top of the page.
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Where does AskEraser work and where does it not work?
AskEraser works if you come directly to Ask Jeeves and perform a search within the Ask Jeeves search box. It also works on searches conducted on Ask Jeeves search boxes embedded within Firefox, Internet Explorer and other browsers. However, even if you have AskEraser enabled, the feature will not work on searches performed through an Ask Jeeves search toolbar or an Ask Jeeves search box available on a third-party site or through third-party software that you choose to install on your computer and AskEraser will not display as an option.
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What about data provided to third-party partners?
When enabled, AskEraser will delete your search activity only from Ask Jeeves servers. We cannot delete your search activity from the servers of third-party companies that receive your search queries to help us provide you with certain types of search results (for example, videos, weather, shopping, and stock market summaries) or to help us provide sponsored links, which are the text-based ads that appear with Ask Jeeves search results. These third-party companies will delete your search activity only in accordance with their own data retention policies. In addition, should you click on any search result on the Ask Jeeves search results page (including sponsored links), the third-party company whose website you visit will receive your search query as part of what is called "referrer data," even when AskEraser is enabled. The transfer of referrer data happens with a click on any link of any web page across the Internet, i.e. this is not unique to Ask Jeeves.
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What about data collected through third-party cookies?
As described in our privacy policy, we may allow third parties to place a cookie on your computer when you visit Ask Jeeves. These so-called "third-party cookies" will be suppressed when AskEraser is enabled. This means that, during the time AskEraser is enabled, new third party cookies cannot be placed on your computer and third-party cookies that already resided on your computer cannot gather information about your search activity. However, third parties may still receive your search queries as mentioned above in What about data provided to third-party partners?.
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Is there any reason Ask Jeeves will stop deleting my search activity?
Even when AskEraser is enabled, Ask Jeeves may temporarily retain your search activity data in certain situations:
- Critical errors or abnormal operation -- if data from AskEraser users is necessary to solve a critical technical issue emanating from internal sources (instability, etc.) or external sources (denial-of-service attack, etc.), search activity data may be retained for a longer period. Upon technical resolution of the problem, all search activity data of AskEraser users that was retained will be deleted.
- Legal obligations -- Ask Jeeves must abide by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Even when Ask Eraser is enabled, we may store your search activity data if duly required or requested to do so by law enforcement or other governmental authority. In such cases, we may retain your search data even if AskEraser appears to be turned on.
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Why does AskEraser use cookies and what cookies are used?
To use AskEraser, you must have cookies enabled in your browser settings. If you never changed your browser settings, it's likely that you already have cookies enabled. If you don't know if cookies are enabled, don't worry, we'll let you know when you try to turn on AskEraser.
Ask Jeeves must set one cookie which is not personally identifiable to act as a constant indicator that you have turned on AskEraser. AskEraser will remain "on" across multiple visits to the Ask Jeeves site as long as you use the same computer and browser. This cookie is named "askeraser" and is created within the "ask.com" domain. The information stored by this cookie is nothing more than the text "on." The "askeraser" cookie is set to expire after 2 years.
Ask Jeeves must set one additional cookie if you opt-in to viewing unfiltered search results (such as adult-oriented search results). This cookie acts as an indicator to remind us that you have agreed to view unfiltered results. You will be presented with a pop-up requesting that you accept this cookie to view unfiltered results. If you accept, a cookie (which is not personally identifiable) named "adt" will be created in the "ask.com" domain. This cookie will expire after 20 minutes. The next time you visit the Ask Jeeves site and want to view unfiltered results, you will once again see this pop-up.
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How do I enable cookies?
Please refer to the Help pages for the browser you are using:
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Why does the site ask me to accept a cookie when I want to view unfiltered search results?
If you opt-in to viewing unfiltered search results (such as adult-oriented search results), Ask Jeeves will need to set one additional cookie. This cookie acts as an indicator to remind us that you have agreed to view unfiltered results. When you click the link to view unfiltered results, you will be presented with a pop-up requesting that you accept this cookie. If you agree, a non-identifiable temporary cookie named "adt" will be created in the "ask.com" domain. This cookie will expire after 20 minutes. Next time you visit the Ask Jeeves site and want to view unfiltered results, you will once again see this pop-up.
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