who in the uk will use webwise/phorm?

[smoker]

phorm seems to be cozying up to all the major uk isps. what's your opinion?

some details:
http://www.phorm.com/
http://www.webwise.bt.com/webwise/customer_choice.html

[Fedz]

Source: Phorm (http://www.phorm.com)

Phorm's proprietary ad serving technology uses anonymised ISP data to deliver the right ad to the right person at the right time - the right number of times. Our platform gives consumers advertising that's tailored to their interests - in real time - with irrelevant ads replaced in the process.

How can it be anonymous :roll:

To target you they need the IP, the IP is individual to the PC so can be tracked/recorded ... collate all this from several sites that use the same technology then this compounds the privacy issue :)

[Dr. C]

I do not live in the UK but as a strong supporter of net neutrality I find the whole phorm thing utterly repugnant. It should be however fairly easy to defeat using Ubuntu since phorm has to spoof the DNS in order to work.

Set up your own DNS server on an Ubuntu box


sudo apt-get install bind9

and then set the DNS for all your computers in your home / office etc regardless of operating system to the DNS of your Ubuntu box on the local LAN

[Old Marcus]

The idea of tracking people is an invasion of privacy, and frankly outrageous. As far as I know, Orange aren't on it yet. Hopefully...

[smoker]

what gets me is, they will be apparently interfering with every data packet that leaves your pc. they say it is anonymous, and they won't touch, eg, users going to their bank webpage, but the fact is, it is putting private information in the hands of someone, and no matter how secure, there will always be attempts to circumvent it, or their policy may change down the road, or, for whatever reason, that data could become open to criminals.

plus, if i am accessing my website, why should my packets be read, will i see adverts from my competitors on my own webpage, possibly? besides, to me there are far too many ads on the internet already. i would be happier if my isp reduced my monthly payment or invested the money they are spending on this on developing a better and faster service.

i know it will be easy to circumvent, but i think i would rather this type of thing not be considered in the first place.

[Joeb454]

I plan on kicking up a fuss about this :)

[insane_alien]

this will get turned off with me and i will definitely consider moving to a different ISP especially as i will soon be looking to upgrade my connection(rest of the families internet usage is starting to edge in on my bandwidth, damn youtube.)

[Biochem]

Is it just me or:
Phishing + worm = Phorm


??

[ice60]

i don't like them at all, the people at phorm are a bunch of morons, they can drop dead for all i care.

it's an opt out service, rather than opt in, and they reckon people are thankful for that because it's such a great service. similar things can happen as happened with the facebook opt in advertising - other people can see what you have been surfing if they use the same computer as you becuase of the targeted ads.

there's an interview with the ceo on the last click on iplayer if anyone wants to see how it works.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00bbtcf.shtml+Programmes&scope=iplayersearch&start=1&version_pid=b00bbtc1

EDIT this is just the interview of the ceo -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7380384.stm

[Old Marcus]

Last I heard it was opt-in...

[gn2]

I would not give my money to an ISP that utilises this system.

I'm with Namesco who have no plans to implement it.

[Joeb454]

Does anybody have any idea when it will be implemented by ISP's, I will be calling my ISP that day to ensure there's no possibility of it being enabled on my line :)

[smoker]

Last I heard it was opt-in...

they are having a trial, which will be opt-in if you want to participate.

once the real deal is implemented though, it is opt-out
:confused:

[smoker]

Does anybody have any idea when it will be implemented by ISP's, I will be calling my ISP that day to ensure there's no possibility of it being enabled on my line :)

apparently the (final) BT trial started in mid-march, i don't know when exactly the full implementation is supposed to begin.


BT Webwise have a support forum,:lolflag:

interesting stuff, worth a look: http://beta.bt.com/bta/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2612

[Tomatz]

Yeah i've been watching this for months now.

IT'S AN EFFIN JOKE

If i were to do what phorms going to do i would end up in jail (and rightly so).

I dont think that they will last long.... but with the crud we seem to put up with on a daily basis (cctv etc) i am probably wrong. :(

[SimonHickling]

Check this (long) thread out.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/33628733-virgin-media-phorm-webwise-adverts-updated.html

[Joeb454]

From the BT Webwise help section:


if you delete cookies regularly and want to remain opted out, you can set all your browsers to block cookies from the domain www.webwise.net. When you block this domain, the service will opt you out permanently. You can use this option now and will then be opted out of BT Webwise.

[smoker]

Check this (long) thread out.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/33628733-virgin-media-phorm-webwise-adverts-updated.html

thanks, interesting link, the you tube vid below was provided by one of the posters there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhbuQOW_Lpo&feature=related

[PhilJ]

Hi all, I believe your data will still go thru Phorm to check if you are opted out. So they still track you opted in or out. This is the biggest threat to privacy in Gt. Britain to date. It MUST be stopped. Lets hope the European Information Commisioner is on the case, because I think ours is asleep at the wheel and Gordon the Gopher couldnt organise a p*ss up in a brewery. This government have no respect for the privacy of it citizens. Rant Over. check my website page for links and sign the petition. the thread mentioned in the previous post has been closed by the mods after some internal bickering on the forum Phil http://www.phillyn.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

[helliewm]

Ross Anderson, Professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, said; "The message has to be this: If you care about your privacy, do not use BT, Virgin or TalkTalk as your Internet provider"

Ross is a personal friend of mine (slightly off topic) and helps with my web site in my signature .Do you realise BT also receives a copy of all your hospital records too. (Slightly off topic but very relevant to BT)

See my post here:


http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/?page=1

Patients are COMPLETELY unable to opt out of BT receiving their medical records.

BT has its fingers in all sorts of pies.:(

Helen