Another Reason to Ditch Internet Explorer and Microsoft

Your searches are a private matter between you and your search engine provider of choice, right?

Think again.

Check your privacy policy with Microsoft. If you performed your search with Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may have given them "permission" to spy on your searches. From the WSJ:

Stefan Weitz, director of the Bing search engine at Microsoft, said in an interview the company studies how certain users interact with Google in order to improve Bing. It does this by looking at "clickstream data," or information that users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer or the Bing search toolbar voluntarily share with the company.

Read Google Says Bing Cheated at the WSJ.
Search engine land has the most thorough discussion.
Machine Learning has an excellent piece about user preferences and privacy.
Hat tip to Geeking with Greg for the links.