Last Updated: March 2015
Bing and MSN Privacy Statement
This privacy statement applies to Bing and MSN websites, services, products and applications that collect data and display these terms. It does not apply to other Microsoft products and services that do not link to the Bing and MSN Privacy Statement.
Cookies & Similar Technologies
When you use Bing and MSN services with a web browser, we will place one or more "cookies" on your machine. For example, Bing uses a cookie with a unique identifier known as the Search ID to operate the service and enable certain search features. If you sign into Bing or other Microsoft services using a Microsoft account, we will set or read one or more additional cookies. We use these cookies to operate Bing and MSN services and provide you a more relevant search experience. You can use your browser settings to remove or block cookies on your computer.
We also use web beacons to help deliver cookies and compile analytics. These may include third-party web beacons, which are prohibited from collecting your personal information.
Collecting Your Information
When you use Bing and MSN services, Microsoft may collect many kinds of information in order to operate effectively and provide you the best products, services and experiences we can. We collect information when you register, sign in and use our sites and services. We also may get information from other companies. We collect this information in a variety of ways, including from web forms, technologies like cookies, web logging and software on your computer or other device.
When you conduct a search, Microsoft collects the following:
- Search term and time and date of your search
- IP address, browser configuration and your location
- Any unique identifiers contained in the cookies
We store search terms (and the cookie IDs associated with search terms) separately from any account information that directly identifies the user, such as name, e-mail address, or phone numbers. We have technological safeguards in place designed to prevent the unauthorized correlation of this data and we remove the entirety of the IP address after 6 months, cookies and other cross session identifiers, after 18 months.
Bing provides search services to select partners and its users. Some examples include Yahoo! and Nokia. In order to provide these services, Bing services receive certain search related information from these partners that may include date, time, IP address, a unique identifier and other search related data.
How We Use Your Personal Information
Microsoft uses the information we collect to operate, improve and personalize the products and services we offer. We also may use the information to communicate with you, for example, informing you about your account and security updates.
For Bing services, we use this information to provide you with relevant search results. We also use the information we collect to maintain and improve the quality, security and integrity of our services. For example we may use this information for research purposes and to improve the relevancy of Bing search results. This information is also necessary in order to detect and protect against security threats such as botnet attacks, click fraud, worms, and other threats. For Microsoft Services that are powered by Bing, we may also use this information to personalize your experience. Please see the Microsoft Services Powered by Bing section for more information.
Finally, as described in the Display of Advertising section of this document, we may use search query data for the purpose of personalizing the ads we display to you as you use our services or those of our advertising partners.
Reasons We Share Your Personal Information
We will share your personal information with your consent. We may also share or disclose information with Microsoft affiliates and vendors; when required by law or to respond to legal process; to protect our customers; to protect lives; to maintain the security of our services; and to protect the rights or property of Microsoft.
We may share some anonymized search query data with selected third parties for research purposes. When you click on a link from a Bing search results page, the destination website will receive the standard information your browser sends to every web site you visit, including the URL of the site you came from. Because the URL of the Bing search results page contains the text of the search query you entered, the destination website will be able to determine the search term you entered.
If your browser is enabled to allow pages to pre-load in the background for faster performance, Bing may use this functionality and your browser may preload page(s) in the background for faster results. When your browser loads a page in the background, it will have the same effect as if you visited that page, including sending the Bing results page URL (which may contain your search query) and downloading any cookie files that page may set. You can delete cookies using your browser settings. Click here for more information on how to delete cookies and to control pre-loading pages in Internet Explorer 11.
Accessing Your Personal Information and Search History
When using a web browser, the Bing preferences page allows you to manage your search preferences, such as search history, search language settings, and saved interests or favorites that may be used in Microsoft services when signed in using your Microsoft account. These settings allow you to customize your search experience and provide features that are most relevant to you and your interests.
For Bing Search in your browser, using the search terms you enter and the results you click, search history provides an easy way to revisit the sites and searches you've used before. You may clear your search history from appearing on the site by following the steps provided here or by going to the Bing preferences page noted above. Clearing your history removes it from the Search History service and prevents that history from being displayed on the site, but does not delete information from our standard search logs, which are retained and anonymized as described in the Collecting Your Information Section.
Microsoft Services Powered by Bing
Microsoft services and apps that are powered by Bing services, such as MSN and Bing apps, Cortana, and Microsoft mapping services, use Bing search to provide you with enhanced features and convenient ways to access information such as weather forecasts, traffic reports or internet search results (not all Microsoft applications or Bing features are available in every country). These Bing-powered services are available on a variety of platforms including apps preinstalled with Windows, apps created for the iOS, apps in the Microsoft Store, and as browser plug-ins and toolbars.
When you conduct a search in a Bing-powered service or app, that information will be sent to Microsoft to provide you with the search results you are requesting. We use and protect this information as described in the Collecting Your Information section of this statement.
Some Bing-powered services, such as Cortana and MSN apps, provide you with an enhanced experience when you connect these services to your Microsoft account. When you log in and connect these Bing-powered services to your Microsoft account, Microsoft may use your information to personalize these and other Microsoft services and apps. Personalization provides you with a customized experience to provide features that are most relevant to you and your interests.
Bing Location Services
If you've allowed a Microsoft service or application that uses Bing services to access your location, the location of your device will be sent to Microsoft along with the search terms, time and date of your search, and a unique identifier generated by the Microsoft service or application. Mapping features in Microsoft's services and apps also use Bing services, and when you submit information such as an address to be viewed on a map, that service or application passes it to Bing services for processing.
Also, if you connect a Bing Service or app to another service that has "Check-in" or "Reminder" features, such as Facebook or Foursquare, when you use these features Microsoft will store the location of your device along with your Microsoft account information.
Children
When a Microsoft site or service collects age information, it will block users under 13 or obtain consent from a parent or guardian before their child can use it.
When consent is granted, the child's account is treated much like any other account, including letting the account holder communicate with other users.
Parents can change or revoke consent as described in this privacy statement.
Display of Advertising
Most of the online advertisements on Microsoft sites and services are displayed by Microsoft Advertising. When we display online advertisements to you, we will place one or more cookies in order to recognize your computer when we display an ad to you. Over time, we may gather information from the sites where we serve ads and use the information to help provide more relevant ads.
You may opt out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our Your privacy and Microsoft personalized ads. For more information about how Microsoft Advertising collects and uses information, please see the Microsoft Advertising Privacy Statement.
Communication Preferences
You can stop the delivery of future promotional email from Microsoft sites and services by following the specific instructions in the email you receive. You also have the option of proactively making choices about the receipt of promotional email, telephone calls and postal mail from Microsoft by visiting and signing in to the Promotional Communications Manager.
Payment Data
Payment Data is the information that you provide when you make online purchases. This may include your payment instrument number (e.g., credit card, PayPal), your name and billing address, and the security code associated with your payment instrument (e.g., the CSV or CVV). This section provides additional information regarding the collection and use of your payment information.
Microsoft account
Microsoft account is a service that lets you sign in to Microsoft products, web sites and services, as well as those of select Microsoft partners. When you create a Microsoft account, we ask you to provide certain information. When you sign in to a site or service using your Microsoft account, we collect certain information in order to verify your identity on behalf of the site or service, to protect you from malicious account usage and to protect the efficiency and security of the Microsoft account service. We also send some of this information to sites and services that you sign in to with your Microsoft account.
We use demographic information - gender, country, age and postal code but not your name or contact information - from your Microsoft account to provide personalized ads to you. You may opt out of receiving targeted ads from Microsoft Advertising by visiting our opt-out page.
To view additional details about Microsoft account, including how to create and use a Microsoft account, how to edit account information, and how we collect and use information relating to a Microsoft account, please click on Learn More.
Other Important Privacy Information Learn more about
- Non-Microsoft services that use Bing search
- Protecting the security of personal information
- Where we store and process information
- Changes to our privacy statements