Google would consider keeping a user's search data for longer than 18 months if they had explicitly consented, one of the firm's key executives has said.
The web giant currently anonymises a user's search history after 18 months.

There are concerns among some privacy advocates that Google could know too much about a user's web history.

But Marissa Mayer, vice-president of search, said the firm would look at letting users opt in to having their search data held for longer.

Google currently offers an opt-in personalised search facility, which learns how and what users search for in order to improve the accuracy of results.

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