The world’s leading provider of Web search said it is taking steps to anonymize, or obscure details, after 18 to 24 months on the surfing habits of tens of millions of Web users that could potentially be used to identify individuals.

“Previously, we kept this data for as long as it was useful,” Google officials said in statement to be made public on Thursday but provided to reporters on Wednesday. “Unless we’re legally required to retain log data for longer, we will anonymize our server logs after a limited period of time.”

“By anonymizing our server logs after 18-24 months, we think we’re striking the right balance between two goals: continuing to improve Google’s services for you, while providing more transparency and certainty about our retention practices,” the Google statement said.

Google cautioned that data retention laws in some national or regional jurisdictions could obligate Google to retain Web server logs at some point in the future.

Personally, I’m glad they’re also retaining my ability to maintain a search history — voluntarily.