BT advert trials were 'illegal'

[smoker]

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

imo, there's something seedy and sinister behind this kind of technology - makes you wonder what Big Brother is really up to!
:confused:

[Xzallion]

This has nothing to do with Big Brother, but does have a few privacy issues. I don't know how U.K. law works, but here in the U.S.A. that would of got the bittorent developers sued.

Also this is just in the official bittorent client, not in the protocol.

[Barrucadu]

Here BT is an ISP, phone service, etc :p
Which makes it worse if you think about it. They should know better.

[heartburnkid]

This has nothing to do with Big Brother, but does have a few privacy issues. I don't know how U.K. law works, but here in the U.S.A. that would of got the bittorent developers sued.

Also this is just in the official bittorent client, not in the protocol.

Ummm... wrong BT -- this is about British Telecom, not BitTorrent.

[xpod]

imo, there's something seedy and sinister behind this kind of technology - makes you wonder what Big Brother is really up to!

IT`s certainly causing quite an uproar over here atm smoker.It`s not just BT but quite a few ISP`s who may be implementing this spyware,including our own Virgin Media.
The fact that Phorm.....the company involved,were previously better known for their spyware as 121media is`nt exactly instilling much confidence.

Some relevant questions regarding the BT fiasco
http://www.inphormationdesk.org/
The Guardian are having none of it so lets hope the ISP`s concerned follow suit.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/26/guardian_phorm_uturn/


This has nothing to do with Big Brother, but does have a few privacy issues. I don't know how U.K. law works, but here in the U.S.A. that would of got the bittorent developers sued.

IT`s against the law here too but thats not stopping them it seems.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304052.html

EDIT:
That other erm...... "BT" is`nt going to be fairing much better either of course
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/30/cnvirgin130.xml

[smoker]

IT`s certainly causing quite an uproar over here atm smoker.It`s not just BT but quite a few ISP`s who may be implementing this spyware,including our own Virgin Media.
The fact that Phorm.....the company involved,were previously better known for their spyware as 121media is`nt exactly instilling much confidence.

these companies are all making plenty in profits, yet drag their heels to upgrade and improve the service. now they want to spy on us and direct advertising at us (for our benefit!) to make more profits from advertisers. if they offer a 'free' service, i might opt in (that would be a benefit!), other than that they can shove it. i've already emailed BT to state i will be leaving them if this goes ahead.

there's also the security aspects to consider, should they be intercepting packets of data from and to my bank, business, undertaker, etc! (maybe i'll get a choice of cheap caskets!)

anyway, cookies are wiped everytime i close firefox, and i use adblocker, i don't want the ads, and i don't want spied on either.

ps: thanks for the links, xpod
:lolflag:

[xpod]

these companies are all making plenty in profits, yet drag their heels to upgrade and improve the service. now they want to spy on us and direct advertising at us (for our benefit!) to make more profits from advertisers. if they offer a 'free' service, i might opt in (that would be a benefit!), other than that they can shove it. i've already emailed BT to state i will be leaving them if this goes ahead.

there's also the security aspects to consider, should they be intercepting packets of data from and to my bank, business, undertaker, etc! (maybe i'll get a choice of cheap caskets!)

anyway, cookies are wiped everytime i close firefox, and i use adblocker, i don't want the ads, and i don't want spied on either.

ps: thanks for the links, xpod


Out of curiosity which ISP are you with yourself smoker??
If your with any of the 4 concerned(4 for now) then you might find the PHORM thread over on the Cable Forums quite interesting.Indeed any internet user may well be interested......if not concerned.
The >BAD<Phorm PR team themselves even show face......initially.

In fact,they have quite a few PR teams scouring the blogs & forums out there,putting their bulls**t spin on it all.

[Dr. C]

The is a serious threat to privacy ans net neutrality and should be of concern to internet users and publishers world wide even though at this time the threat is limited to the UK.

Dr. Richard Clayton has done an analysis of this technology in http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/%7Ernc1/080404phorm.pdf and certain things here I find scary. It appears that they spoof the DNS and they set cookies within domains they do not control . For example setting a cookie that purports to be from ubuntuforums.org without the consent of ubuntuforums.org. This can cause unpredictable behavior on the ubuntuforums.org servers.

My question is can Phorm be defeated by running one's own DNS instead of the ISP's DNS? For example:
sudo apt-get install bind9 dnsutils Running one's own DNS is explained in http://www.ubuntugeek.com/dns-server-setup-using-bind-in-ubuntu.html

[xpod]

My question is can Phorm be defeated by running one's own DNS instead of the ISP's DNS? For example:

I use Opendns myself but i really dont know for sure.....yet

IT seems Phorm wont be the only one wanting to spy on us though
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3688387.ece

[smoker]

Out of curiosity which ISP are you with yourself smoker??


i'm with BT, though maybe not for much longer. i'm sure there will be plenty of ISP's who take customers privacy and security seriously and won't be using 'phorm' and, consequently, will benefit from a plethora of new customers


by FineE: " My question is can Phorm be defeated by running one's own DNS instead of the ISP's DNS?"

short answer, i don't know! but why should customers have to look to defeat stuff like this, it shouldn't be introduced in the first place?

[smoker]

IT seems Phorm wont be the only one wanting to spy on us though
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3688387.ece
from link:

However, the key difference is that Hitwise, which describes itself as an “online competitive intelligence service”

WTF is an “online competitive intelligence service”

[xpod]

i'm with BT, though maybe not for much longer. i'm sure there will be plenty of ISP's who take customers privacy and security seriously and won't be using 'phorm' and, consequently, will benefit from a plethora of new customers

Not one of the 18,000 secret BT(isp) trials i hope smoker:wink:
IF this spyware company do get their foot in the door with the main providers then it would`nt suprise me if the smaller ones eventually followed somewhere down the line.


WTF is an “online competitive intelligence service

http://www.hitwise.com/who-we-are/hitwise-client-commitment.php


BTW....hows the weather back home Smoker??
We woke up to 6 inches of snow down here in London.........in April.

Another complete whitewash:)

EDIT:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/security/webtripwires.html

A link from Richard Claytons blog that may interest any website owners.(from CF)

[swoll1980]

with AT&T I can't check my e-mail unless I accept there tracking cookie. In my opinion the only thing cookies are good for is eating

[smoker]

Not one of the 18,000 secret BT(isp) trials i hope smoker:wink:

if i was, i guess i'm not doing anything illegal, no black suits have come to my door!:)



BTW....hows the weather back home Smoker??
We woke up to 6 inches of snow down here in London.........in April.

some snow this morning in Motherwell, but not heavy, and all cleared by around mid-day, 'global warming' seems to be missing out the UK
:lolflag:
(darn it, who's that at the door!)
:lolflag:

[PhilJ]

Well they got away with it. City of London police have dropped the investigation because &quot;there was no criminal intent&quot;. So next time you get nicked you know what to say.

If you've been living under a rock and dont know what has been going on or think it's just a group of techie nerds on a mission ,you need to think again. This is about interception and monitoring of ALL communications thru your connection to the internet. If you think its just about BT and some banners and adverts , as they want you to think, then think again. This firm PHORM doesnt like the daylight being shone on it..

You need to get off your arses and sign the downing street petition against this sort of thing NOW! If you use the internet in the UK you need to find out about this. It DOES concern you. If you let them take your rights of privacy away you and your children will never see them again. This is being introduced by the very people you trusted to keep your data safe and secure, your ISP * .I repeat it is not just about BT and some annoying banners on a website. it is about copyright,privacy and security. If you cant even be bothered to click on a link to register your concerns, I despair and you will lose so much and give away your childrens right to privacy on the net as well. i hope you are not that apathetic.
Philj
concerned Grandfather of 2

Now get off your arses and look into this. Use this link as a start

http://www.phillyn.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

*some isp's have declared themselves Phorm-free. if you can, take your business there.

[smoker]

petition signed :-)

[PhilJ]

Thank you Smoker,
come on you lot get your fingers out !


Phil

[PhilJ]

Come on we need more signatures on the petition. 2 more gets us up to 18,000 Philj