Tag archive: Phorm

The European Commission has launched an infringement case against the United Kingdom over Phorm behavioral advertising technology, saying the technology violates EU ePrivacy and personal data protection rules in the ways it targets online advertisements at individual Internet users. “We have been following the Phorm case for some time and have concluded that there are problems in the way the UK has implemented parts of EU rules on… Read More

It was supposed to begin in April, but was put on hold, supposedly for technical reasons. It’s drawn a massive fallout of criticism and it’s being investigated by the European Commission. But now British Telecom (BT) is going ahead with its third trial of the Phorm ad-serving technology, known as Webwise. Those taking Phorm will get a unique identifier that tracks their browsing habits online and targets ads to them, according to… Read More

Just when one storm regarding Phorm – a system that tracks the habits of web users to online ads can be more firmly targeted at them – dies down, another rises. This time it’s EU commissioner Viviane Reding who wants answers from the British government as to whether the system breaches European data regulations. Three British ISPs (TalkTalk, BT and Virgin Media) have already signed up to use the service, and BT is due to… Read More

Since it signed up three British ISPs – BT, Virgin, and CarphoneWarehouse – to a trial of its online ad system, Phorm has been coming under fire.   The idea itself is very clever, as it matches a user’ssurfing habits with ad channels in order to produce personally targeted ads, using keywords in the sites visited.   However, although Phorm has been praised by some for its data protection, itwas rapped at a meeting for… Read More

It seems as if each passing day brings more controversy about the online ad service Phorm, which is being deployed in Britain. First came questions about userprivacy, then one of the ISPs taking it on made it an opt-in service.   Now a policy group, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (Fipr) has putforward the argument that Phorn is illegal under UK law.   Phorm’s system works by making note of the sites a user visits,… Read More