Brussels, 09/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - The 27 European authorities in charge of data protection at the Group Article 29 (G29), presided by Alex Türk (CNIL) unanimously adopted an important opinion in the context of search engines preserving their end-users' data. According to a report published on 4 April, the authorities believe that personal data protection in directive 95/46/EC applies in full to search engines and consequently, the period for storing this data should not exceed 6 months. Beyond this, search engines will have to be justified. This also applies to engines set up in Europe, but also to those of US origin operating in offices in Europe. Currently, both AOL and Yahoo preserve data, such as the IP address or corresponding cookies for 13 months, as opposed to 18 months by Google and Microsoft. This data allows for advertising strips or very targeted sponsored links, which are big sources of income. G29 is also recommending a ban on engines collecting other information on their users, without authorisation. Data collected by Google Apps or YouTube is not expected to be involved in research on the engine without internet users' permission. Engines will have to provide easy access to the latter on how their data is processed. In a response provided on 7 April on the company Blog, Peter Fleischer, special private life advisor to Google, said that they had to take into account the need to provide quality products and services for users, as developed from accurate research and security systems. One European source said that the Commission will now examine the non-binding opinion of the G29 and reserve the right to take measures (such as the opening infringement proceedings against member states that do not respect European legislation on data protection). The G29 opinion can be consulted at: http: //ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2008/wp148_en.pdf. (B.C.)