Phorm Petition

[expat]

Pointless effort - Brown will say that it is the matter for private companies and that's the end of it.

Those guys will be brought down by bad publicity that will force ISPs to back out of this crap.

Oh really? Like it forced BT to can their Indian call centres and run a reasonable help line? Ask any survivor of repeated 3-hour phone calls to Bangalore tellin them to reset their router and call the manufacturer for more help (with a BT line problem).

[expat]

Phorm is a brilliant conception. You take steps to stop spyware and adware on your computer, they just get your ISP to install it on theirs instead.

[TheFaQQer]

Done.

Have you been to BadPhorm? Hopefully they will update it with some new details soon.

It was also in the Guardian the other week - they have got their PR guys out early it seems. BBC website was quoting some privacy expert saying how good Phorm was for privacy

[AtW]

Like it forced BT to can their Indian call centres and run a reasonable help line?

I think it's different this time.

[expat]

I think it's different this time.

Just about my favourite Famous Last Words.

[AtW]

Just about my favourite Famous Last Words.

[realityhack]

Oh, here we are:

"Several security firms have confirmed (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03...rm_av_vendors/) plans to classify Phorm's cookies - both for opting in and opting out of Webwise - as adware."

"Phorm's plan to use cookies to exclude people who opt-out is illegal (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/04/phorm_ripa/)"

"Today the BBC reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7299875.stm) that Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the web, has spoken out against ISP ad targeting. He summed up public opposition to the system: "It's [web traffic] mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return."

"Meanwhile, the Downing Street petition (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ispphorm/) against Phorm has now garnered almost 5,000 signatures."

"You can follow all our reporting of Phorm over the last three weeks here."

Please excuse the cut&pasting from El Reg, just thought it would add some authority to the spat we had last week. It's not just about opinions, AtW.

[TheFaQQer]

A report they comissioned says that they need to go further in protecting privacy:

the interim privacy impact assessment report, written by Simon Davies and Gus Hosein, of 80/20 Thinking Ltd, said the company should go further.

It said: "Information from websites and queries regarding sexual content, political preferences, medical health, racial origin should be blocked from processing.

"Similarly, as profiles are developed Phorm should communicate openly whether profiles and channels will match information of this type, e.g. matching pharmaceuticals with web activity that searches for anti-depressants."

The report also called on the tool to disregard data collected from website addresses so that ISPs could not, in theory, learn about their customers' commercial preferences, such as which bank or insurance company they use.

Linky.

[TheFaQQer]

Petition has nearly 7000 signatures now, too.

[AtW]

I like Phorn - that will take lots of tapes to back the Internet up.

Milan.