Web search site Ask.com is launching a feature that allows users to delete data on their search queries in an effort to bolster personal privacy while surfing the Internet. A link titled AskEraser will be featured on the site's home page and all search results pages, with a clear choice to signal whether the feature should be "On" or "Off" during a user's search requests.

"We take significant steps to protect any data that's stored in our servers, but for those people who want to take extra precautions, AskEraser let them take the issue completely off the table," Ask.com Chief Executive Jim Lanzone said in an interview ahead of Tuesday's launch.

When activated, AskEraser deletes all subsequent search queries and related information linked to a user's "cookies," or identifying information from their computers. The feature becomes available on Tuesday for U.S. and UK users, and will expand to global sites in 2008.