Phorget about Phorm

Posted on 9 Jul 2009 at 11:10

UK internet users can all let out a victory cheer, as TalkTalk has decided to drop the Phorm targeted advertising system.

The UK's biggest ISP (after buying Tiscali recently) has followed BT's example and stated that it will not be implementing the behavioural advertising service.

Phorm's service, called Webwise, is designed to track users' web surfing and surface adverts that match their interests. While Phorm has stated that no information is actually stored and users are guaranteed anonymity, concerns have been raised about the level of snooping.

A huge backlash was aimed at Phorm and the ISPs involved in the trials, and internet users fought for their right to use their broadband service, which they pay for, privately without threat of their habits being monitored.

Several high-profile sites, including Amazon and Wikipedia, formally requested to opt-out of Phorm, protecting their users from being monitored.

Virgin Media is currently the only major ISP still evaluating the Phorm service. It denied reports earlier this year that it was about to stop its trials, but under increasing pressure it will be interesting to see if the ISP decides to follow its competitors.

Author: David Ludlow

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