Phormwatch

A BBC reporter was present at Phorm’s ‘town hall’ meeting with key figures involved in the controversy, and the full story is available on their website.

One of the more interesting points (that we haven’t heard before now) raised by Dr Richard Clayton at the meeting was this:

…in some cases a user’s attempt to visit a webpage resulted in the request bouncing back and forth between Phorm’s service and the website three times before completing.

This was followed by a vague response from a Phorm representative, Marc Burgess.

Phorm’s senior vice president of technology Marc Burgess said this type of redirection would happen in less than 1% of browsing.

Let’s not forget that “less than 1% of browsing” is still millions of pages in total. The CEO of Phorm also let slip a shamelessly arrogant remark:

The internet today is two to three professionals - Microsoft, Yahoo and Google - and 9,999,999 hobbyists.

I think it shameful that the man in charge of an operation which has the potential to intercept billions of UK users’ web pages could come out with such an ignorant comment.

Read: BBC News

80/20 Thinking Ltd, a company hired by Phorm to provide a privacy assessment of the system, has organised an open meeting to take place tonight (April 15th) at the University of London. Various key figures will be present, including Dr Richard Clayton of the FIPR who published this analysis of Phorm.

Also present will be the CEO of the company, Kent Ertugrul, and CTO Marc Burgess. Undoubtedly this will make for some interesting discussion, with both stern critics and outright supporters of Phorm being present. The meeting is being filmed, so as soon as it is available online you’ll be able to find it here.

Read: Computer Weekly, Event details @ 80/20 Thinking

Digital Media Asia writes that “Phorm has submitted a proposal to the US’ Federal Trade Commission…making its case for a policy that would not limit electronic commerce“. It seems clear from this move that the company is now trying to penetrate the US market. They also note that “Phorm submitted its comments and recommendations to the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection,” which would likely clear a path for Phorm to use their system, which is currently limited to the UK, in conjunction with US ISPs.

Read: Digital Media Asia

Welcome to Phormwatch, a blog established to keep track on Phorm’s illegal rollout in the UK. Phorm, formerly known as 121Media (a company which distributed spyware) is currently in the process of setting up a system which monitors web activity for customers of Virgin Media, BT, and TalkTalk. The data collected from this monitoring system is then used to show targeted advertisements to the customers of those ISPs. We believe this is thoroughly illegal and unethical activity, and this blog has been set up to keep the public informed of Phorm’s activities and the status of the rollout of their technology. It is important that consumers hear the facts, rather than Phorm’s published propaganda material which can easily found on their website.

The aims of Phormwatch are threefold:

1. To try and prevent Phorm from ever being fully launched as an opt-out product. You can help with this effort by signing the Downing Street petition.
2. To inform customers of the affected ISPs about the risks associated with Phorm and provide them with ways to circumvent their web history being tracked by the company. For example, the Firefox add-on Dephormation is designed to prevent any of your data ever reaching Phorm.
3. To keep the public updated with relevant news postings about the current status of the Phorm rollout.

The Register has a great roundup of their Phorm coverage which you can view here. More information can also be found on Wikipedia.