Yahoo will store personal data gathered from web surfing for only three months, making its retention policy the shortest among peers, the company said on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, the company will 'anonymize' the computer addresses of its users within three months in most cases, from 13 months. It is reserving the right to keep data for up to six months if fraud or system security are involved.
Internet search companies have come under pressure from European Union and other data protection officials to do more to protect the privacy of users.
Earlier this year, industry leader Google Inc halved the amount of time it stores personal data to nine months. Microsoft Corp has said it will cut the time to six months if its rivals did the same.