BT drops Phorm

TonyW · Jul 6, 2009

For those that have been following the issues surrounding BT and Phorm, it was announced today that BT have dropped Phorm.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8135850.stm

Rmus · Jul 6, 2009

Thanks for the article.

It's not clear that BT has really dropped Phorm: the spokesman's statement wasn't quite as definite as the article's title would suggest:

A spokesman for British Telecom, Mike Jarvis, told the BBC that they were not completely closing the door on Phorm's Webwise service.

"We're interested in this area [targeted online advertising] but for now we have no immediate plans.

"It's more a case that we have other stuff to work on - Project Canvas, rolling out the fibre network and so forth - so we've taken a step out of Phorm and will see how it develops.
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This is interesting:

"[Our decision has] nothing to do with cost or privacy, it's about resources and priority," he added.
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I suspect that privacy is a big issue. To wit:

In April, Amazon blocked Phorm from scanning its web pages to produce targeted advertising, as has the UK government, citing privacy concerns.
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Phorm itself has expansion plans:

"We continue to focus considerable effort on faster moving overseas opportunities," the statement read.
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Last year I discussed this with my ISP (local business in California). There was another company in this type of advertising -- the name escapes me now. He stated that he as an ISP would decline to participate.

Now, Phorm:

"In so doing we have already minimised our dependency on the deployment by any single ISP or in any particular market.
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Interesting story, to be continued...

----
rich

Keyboard_Commando · Jul 7, 2009

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8021661.stm

The Home Office has been accused of colluding with online ad firm Phorm on "informal guidance" to the public on whether the company's service is legal.

E-mails between the ministry and Phorm show the department asking if the firm would be "comforted" by its position. A Home Office spokesperson said the suggestion of "collusion" was totally unfounded.

"We have repeatedly said since these documents were released a year ago that the Government has not endorsed Phorm or its technology.

"We are committed to protecting the privacy of UK consumers and will ensure any new technology of this sort is applied in an appropriate and transparent manner, in full accordance with the law and with proper regulation from the appropriate authority."

The e-mail exchanges were released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request made by a member of the public and sent to the BBC.
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The exchanges between the Home Office and Phorm date back to August 2007, in which the ministry asks the company for more information about the technology following a request made by Phorm for a view on its technology. E-mails from legal representatives of Phorm released under the FOI Act show the company repeatedly asking the Home Office if it "has no objection to the marketing and operation of the Phorm product in the UK".
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The Home Office has previously denied that it has provided "any advice to Phorm directly relating to possible criminal liability for the operation of their advertising platform in the UK". However, e-mail exchanges over a series of months between the department and the firm show the Home Office asking the firm what it thinks of the advice it is drawing up in relation to behavioural targeted advertising, and making specific reference to Phorm's technology.
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In an e-mail dated August 2007, an unnamed Home Office official wrote to Phorm's legal representative and said: "My personal view accords with yours, that even if it is "interception", which I am doubtful of, it is lawfully authorised under section 3 by virtue of the user's consent obtained in signing up to the ISPs terms and conditions."

In an e-mail dated 22 January 2008, a Home Office official wrote again to Phorm and said: "I should be grateful if you would review the attached document, and let me know what you think."
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In January 2008 the Home Office thanks Phorm for comments and changes to its draft paper, which show the company making deletions and changes to the document.

The Home Office official wrote to Phorm: "If we agree this, and this becomes our position do you think your clients and their prospective partners will be comforted."
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Baroness Sue Miller, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on Home Affairs, told BBC News: "My jaw dropped when I saw the Freedom of Information exchanges.

"The fact the Home Office asks the very company they are worried is actually falling outside the laws whether the draft interpretation of the law is correct is completely bizarre."
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In a letter to the Guardian responding to an article written by Baroness Miller, Phorm's chief executive Kent Ertugrul denied there was any "collusion" between the firm and the Home Office.

He wrote: "This is untrue and misrepresents the way in which the British legal system works."

He said the advice given by the Home Office was "an informed opinion on ISP-based targeted advertising, but in the United Kingdom it is for the courts to decide what is or is not legal, not the Home Office".
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Baroness Miller said she was concerned that the Home Office was "very interested in the technology" for its own purposes.

However, Mr Ertugrul said it was "misleading to invent a link between Phorm's innovative technology and the Government's plans for counterterrorism"
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^^ LOL Mr Ertugrul seems to be a bit of a comedian

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6652692.ece

Looks like Virgin and Carphone Warehouse have dropped Phorm also.

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BT drops Phorm

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