‘Illegal’ web-tracking service

21 March 2008

Academics say ‘Phorm’ infringes user’s privacy

Phorm, a tracking service backed by BT, has been dubbed as ‘illegal’ by an influential think tank.

As users browse the internet, the service tracks them in hopes of improving the effectiveness of online advertising.

Phorm, supported by three of the UK’s largest internet service providers (ISPs), is designed to take account of all of the websites a person visits, as opposed to just looking at the content of a single web page, so that online advertising can be made more relevant.

A group of Cambridge academics, called the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), have said that the service – which is set to be trialled by BT this month – violates users’ privacy.

The group said that collating information about which websites a user visits, without the user’s consent, is a breach of the law which prevent ‘unlawful interceptions of communications - the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

“Users should have to opt in to such a system, not merely be given an opportunity to opt out,” said the FIPR.

“Failure to establish a clear and transparent ‘opt-in’ system is likely to render the entire process illegal and open to challenge in UK and European courts.”

The Information Commissioner, called on by the group to condemn the service, is meant to be publishing a report on the matter in two weeks.

Phorm says that its technology will keep track of the pages a customer visits during the course of a complete ‘browsing session’, which will help ISPs to target customers with more relevant advertising.

A spokesman for UK-based Phorm said that the company had not decided on whether users would have to consent before the service was turned on and that the final decision would be left in the hands of the ISP signed up to the service.

So far, over 5,000 people have signed a petition claiming that Phorm invades privacy. The petition also calls on the Prime Minister to review the UK’s privacy laws.