Bing Bar gives you a quick, convenient way to search the internet, check your email, weather forecasts, traffic reports, road maps, and Facebook. (Some features might not be available in your country or region). When you use Bing Bar, certain information is collected and shared with Microsoft and used to operate Bing Bar services and to help improve Bing Bar and other Microsoft products and services. You may also choose to participate in optional programs such as the Bing Bar Experience Improvement program that, as described in more detail below, collects additional information including information about your computer, your searches, addresses of websites you visit, and how you use Bing Bar. If you elect not to participate in the Improvement Program more limited information will be collected.
When you install Bing Bar we collect information that tells us if Bing Bar was installed properly, the installation date, the Bing Bar version, and other information about your computer like the operating system and browser. This information will be collected on a regular basis to help us determine the number of users of Bing Bar and issues associated with different versions of Bing Bar and different systems. When you click buttons and interact with Bing Bar, we will collect this information to assist in improving Bing Bar features.
When you visit a Microsoft site with Bing Bar installed, a cookie may be generated and shared with other Microsoft sites. The cookie includes information about the Bing Bar version and installation date to help Microsoft determine whether or not to provide you with additional information about Bing Bar and any updated versions. When InPrivate browsing is selected, Bing Bar doesn't collect or send any data to us unless you specifically re-enable Bing Bar in that browsing session. Learn more about how to use InPrivate and stay safer online.
The information that is collected during your use of Bing Bar is treated in accordance with the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. You may stop using Bing Bar at any time. You can also uninstall Bing Bar from Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel.
Bing Bar features and services that collect info
Bing Bar provides a number of features and services that collect and use additional information:
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Searching with Bing Bar When you type a search in Bing Bar, that information will be sent to Microsoft to provide you with the search results you are requesting. We use and protect this information as described in the Bing Privacy Supplement to the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement.
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Autosuggest The characters that you type into Bing Bar will be sent to Microsoft to provide you with real-time search suggestions.
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AutoFill Some older versions of Bing Bar include an optional feature that can automatically fill out forms on websites with information like your address, passwords, and credit card information so that you don't have to repeatedly type the same information or remember multiple passwords. This information is encrypted and saved on your computer; it isn't sent to Microsoft. Bing Bar will prompt you to create a single "form fill password." You must enter the form fill password every time you wish to automatically enter a stored credit card number and once per browser session to automatically enter a stored password.
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Bing Bar Experience Improvement Program If you’ve chosen to participate in the Bing Bar Experience Improvement program, information about the websites that you visit and how you use Bing Bar will be sent to Microsoft. This information helps us to improve the quality and performance of our products and services and to help prevent spam and phishing scams from reaching your inbox. While Bing Bar is enabled, the information about the websites accessed by the browser Bing Bar is installed on is collected to improve search ranking and relevance and the performance of Bing services.
To help protect your privacy we don't use any of the information collected through the Bing Bar Experience Improvement Program to identify, contact, or target advertising to you, and we take steps to store such information separately from any account information we might have that directly identifies you, such as name, email address, or phone numbers. We anonymize or delete the information collected through the Bing Bar Experience Program at eighteen months.
Stop participating in the program at any time
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Open your web browser.
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On the right side of Bing Bar, click the Settings button
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Click Quality, select No, I don't want to participate, and then click Close.
Notes
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When you install Bing Bar, you can opt in or out of participating by selecting or clearing the Improve my experience check box before you click Finish to complete the installation.
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If you don't see some or all of the features described in this topic, you might have an older version of Bing Bar. To install the latest version of Bing Bar with all the newest features, go to the Bing Bar Download website.
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