Developers Unveil Anti-Phorm Tool

A privacy group has developed a tool they say will render the ad-serving technology of Phorm useless by hitting it with electronic "noise."

Phorm had raised eyebrows and voices in the UK. The technology, which send users tailored ads after anonymously observing their web-surfing habits, has come in for plenty of criticism and even questions about its legality, even as it’s trailed by two UK services.

But the force is now with those who are against Phorm. The AntiPhormLite tool has been developed by the AntiPhorm group, to fool Phorm by feeding it with false data or “noise.”

It would automatically visit groups of sites within criteria set by users, according to ZDNet, and in “silent mode” would not open any content or execute any scripts.

"It appears we can’t stop your ISP tracking and selling your surfing behaviour but one solution could be to make the data they do collect absolutely worthless to their clients," the AntiPhorm site states. "We have developed AntiPhormLite to address these issues. AntiPhormLite is an application for the Windows platform designed to protect the interest of internet users and reduce the usefulness of data gathered by Phorm and others before this trend becomes irreversible."

The group has warned, however, that some firewalls will need a little tweaking to run the tool effectively.