Microsoft to reduce EU data retention.

• Position: PRIVACY - Brief article

After years of fighting European Union (EU) privacy regulators, Microsoft Corp. has agreed to delete the Internet protocol addresses of EU users after six months.

Previously, Microsoft held search records for 18 months. The new policy will be implemented over the next year to 18 months, according to a public announcement by John Vassallo, Microsoft's vice president of EU affairs.

EU officials have been convinced for years that Microsoft was breaching its strict privacy laws by retaining user data for such a lengthy amount of time. In October 2009, EU officials told Microsoft...