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<h1>Bing</h1>
<h2>Spyware Level: <span class="red">EXTREMELY HIGH</span></h2>
<p>
Bing is yet another spyware search engine that collects your
information and sells it to advertisers. It's strongly recommended
that you do not use Bing.
</p>
<p>
At some point Bing had a privacy policy, but Microsoft doesn't seem to
be hosting it anymore. So, this article will look at the Microsoft
Privacy Statement<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup> to help us
understand what information Bing collects. Similarly to the privacy
policies of Google and Apple, the Microsoft privacy statement eclipses
the entire spyware platform and does not help you understand in great
detail what kind of information one single program could be
collecting. (although this policy is more specific)
</p>
<h3>Bing collects your search history</h3>
<p>
From the Microsoft Privacy Statement<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup
>:
</p>
<p>
<i>
"Microsoft collects data from you, through our interactions with you
and through our products for a variety of purposes described
below. [...] You provide some of this data directly, such as when
you [...] submit a search query to Bing"
</i>
</p>
<p>
Later in the Interactions -> Device and usage data section of this
statement, it is clarified again that Microsoft collects your:
<i>"Browse History. Data about the web pages you visit."</i>, as well
as your:
<i
>"Images. Images and related information, such as picture metadata.
For example, we collect the image you provide when you use a Bing
image-enabled service."</i
>
</p>
<p>
Microsoft claims to store this information for an unlimited amount of
time, but it claims that it will eventually anonymize this information
in a process that takes 18 months to complete.
</p>
<p></p>
<p>
<i>
"Has Microsoft adopted and announced a specific retention period for
a certain data type? For example, for Bing search queries, we
de-identify stored queries by removing the entirety of the IP
address after 6 months, and cookie IDs and other cross-session
identifiers after 18 months. "
</i>
</p>
<h3>Bing uses your search history to profile you for advertising</h3>
<p>
From the Microsoft Privacy Statement<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup
>:
</p>
<p>
<i>
"Microsoft may use data we collect to select and deliver some of the
ads you see on Microsoft web properties, such as Microsoft.com, MSN
and Bing."
</i>
</p>
<p>
So since your search history is part of the "data we collect", the
natural conclusion is that, your search queries are being used to
profile you for advertising. And of course, this is confirmed in this
section:
</p>
<p>
<i>
"The ads that you see may be selected based on data we process about
you, such as your interests and favorites, your location, your
transactions, how you use our products,
<b>
<font color="red"> your search queries </font>
</b>
, or the content you view. For example, if you view content on MSN
about automobiles, we may show advertisements about cars; if you
search “pizza places in Seattle” on Bing, you may see advertisements
in your search results for restaurants in Seattle."
</i>
</p>
<h3>Bing sells your search history to other spyware platforms</h3>
<p>
From the Microsoft Privacy Statement<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup
>:
</p>
<p>
<i>
"We may share data we collect with third parties, such as Oath,
AppNexus, or Facebook (see below), so that the ads you see in our
products, their products, or other sites and apps serviced by these
partners are more relevant and valuable to you. "
</i>
</p>
</div>
<hr />
<div class="footer">
<div class="sources">
<h4>Sources:</h4>
<ol>
<li id="s1">
<a href="https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement"
>Microsoft Privacy Statement</a
>
<a
href="http://web.archive.org/web/20180528165116/https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement"
>[web.archive.org]</a
>
<a href="https://archive.li/u7eZJ">[archive.li]</a><br />
<a href="https://etched.page/b6c0a12757e73a68f1ad76e084aeb32d0123bc4b7aa223623af5440b97ae27c7/https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement">[etched.page]</a><br />
<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/WxFhT?kreymer=false">[ghostarchive.org]</a><br />
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<hr />
<b>This article was last edited on 08/17/2021</b>
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