Privacy group offers tips on anonymous searching

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has released guidelines on how to keep web searches anonymous.

The suggestions come in the wake of AOL's accidental release of information on 20 million private search records before removing the data and apologising for its actions.

The EFF advises against entering personally identifying information in search terms, such as full name (especially if it's uncommon), telephone number, email or IP address.

Further recommendations include not using a search engine operated by the user's ISP, since ISPs can easily identify their customers. Using an alternative search engine will prevent the user's identity being tied to search terms.

Web-based email accounts provided by search engines, such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, can also compromise privacy if users search for items while logged into their mail account.

Blocking cookies from search engines will also prevent items being linked to the user's account. The EFF recommends using the CustomizeGoogle extension for Firefox which can render search cookies anonymous without breaking Gmail.

For the ultimate in private search, the group recommends using an anonymous proxy such as Tor which prevents search engines from discovering the user's IP address.

The full list of recommendations is available on the How To Keep Your Search History Private page on the EFF website.