Yahoo to anonymize user data after three months

In today's podcast: Yahoo to anonymize user data after three months; Motorola stops 401(K) payments, freezes pensions; and speculation mounts over Wal-Mart plans to sell iPhone.

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Yahoo said Wednesday it will anonymize most of the data it collects about people's Web searches after three months, a move that could put further pressure on competitors Google and Microsoft to do the same due to privacy concerns. Yahoo, which previously kept the data for 13 months, will now retain it for the least amount of time compared to its rivals. Google said in September that it would anonymize data after nine months, down from 18 months. Microsoft keeps data for 18 months, although it said earlier this month it would reduce the period to six months if its rivals did the same. A European Union group has recommended that search engines discard data after six months.

Motorola will cut the 2009 salaries of its co-CEOs, suspend matching contributions to employee 401(k) retirement accounts and freeze its pension plans in an effort to reduce costs. Motorola will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans as of March 1. Vested pension benefits accrued by employees and retirees will still be available, but the company will no longer pay future benefits. Motorola previously announced cost-cutting measures expected to save US$800 million on Oct. 30, the same day the company reported a quarterly net loss of $397 million.

Speculation surrounding Wal-Mart carrying the iPhone reached fever pitch on Wednesday, with a leaked memo saying the retailer would start selling the smartphone on Dec. 28. The memo, which was published on Engadget, states that an 8G-byte iPhone 3G will be priced at US$197, and a 16G-byte iPhone at $297, with a two-year cell phone contract with AT&T. Speculation last month suggested Wal-Mart would sell a 4G-byte iPhone 3G for $99, so the higher prices could come as a disappointment. A Wal-Mart spokesman declined comment on the authenticity of the memo.

Mozilla has issued eight patches for its Firefox Web browser, three of which fix problems classified as critical. The patches come after security experts have recommended using a browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and older versions of IE due to a dangerous vulnerability. Microsoft is due to release an emergency patch for that problem Wednesday. Two of the critical Firefox problems could allow an attacker execute a cross-site scripting attack, in which scripts or commands from one Web application that shouldn't run in another are successfully executed. The third problem relates to Firefox's browser engine, and could make it crash or possibly allow someone to remotely execute code on a PC

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.