Microsoft is telling the US Federal Trade Commission that it needs to think about the poor Internet Marketers before changing the rules on data retention. Microsoft's Bing holds onto IP addresses for six months and cookies for a year and half and claims that this is the best thing for everyone.

Microsoft, who just introduced a 'Do Not Track' feature in the newly released Internet Explorer 9 Web browser, has generally endorsed changes suggested by the FCC. The FCC wants only light regulation but at the same time is under pressure to come up with something that protects user privacy.

The FTC released its set of proposed rules, "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change" in December to address the privacy issues that have arisen in the Internet Age. Redmond “urges the Commission to avoid imposing prescriptive requirements with respect to data retention periods or in further defining 'specific business purpose' or 'need.'” It said that the FTC needs to balance privacy with “accommodating and encouraging evolving or innovative technologies and business models over time.”