Metropol

Phorm, if you haven't heard of it, is a proposed new method of targetted advertising. By collecting data about your web surfing habits it can then tell affiliated websites what ads to display.

Well... according to this story...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01 ... 006_trial/

...it seems BT opted 18000 customers into this as a trial in 2006 without their knowledge. The man who was at that time their Chief Technology Officer is now in the same role at the company running Phorm.

This is no different to the Post Office opening your mail to see what you're interested in so that they can send you more relevant junk mail. It is illegal. I'm looking forward to see what comes of this story.

I was rather shocked about this until I remembered the date.

Still, that makes three metro-april-fools so far.

What were the other two? You're wrong, I'm sure, but I should ask.

cdd wrote:I was rather shocked about this until I remembered the date.

Still, that makes three metro-april-fools so far.

A little research would have pointed out that this isn't an April Fool's joke at all.

e.g.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... tworkfront

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/17/bt_phorm_lies/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7301379.stm

marksi wrote:Phorm, if you haven't heard of it, is a proposed new method of targetted advertising. By collecting data about your web surfing habits it can then tell affiliated websites what ads to display.

Well... according to this story...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/01 ... 006_trial/

...it seems BT opted 18000 customers into this as a trial in 2006 without their knowledge. The man who was at that time their Chief Technology Officer is now in the same role at the company running Phorm.

This is no different to the Post Office opening your mail to see what you're interested in so that they can send you more relevant junk mail. It is illegal. I'm looking forward to see what comes of this story.

I seen it, i sent a myspace message and it said "Midlands Today" and "Smoke Bombs" and " Stab Vests"

Disturbing...

I'm wrong, cdd.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7325451.stm

Trials of an online ad system carried out by BT involving more than 30,000 of its customers were potentially illegal, says a leading digital rights lawyer.

BT has said it trialled a prototype of Phorm, which matches adverts to users' web habits, in 2006 and 2007.

The company did not inform customers that they were part of the trial.

Nicholas Bohm, of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, said tests without the knowledge of users were "an illegal intercept of users' data".

A spokesman for BT said the firm had no comment about the legality or illegality of the 2006 test.