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The European Commission's Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has recommended that personal search data be discarded after six months, despite the fact most search companies are retaining data for much longer periods. The collection of data by search engines has considerable privacy implications, according to the report.

The report has recommended that all the personal data should deleted after it no longer serves a purpose, in other words, within a period not exceeding six months.  And after that period, search engines "must demonstrate comprehensively that it is strictly necessary for the service," the report said.

The data collected by search engines includes a vast array of details, including IP address, search terms, data and time of the search, brand of browser, operating system and the language used.

Without mentioning any names, the report squarely takes aim at online players such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, since all three companies are known to retain some search data longer than six months, which would eventually put them at odds with the EU.