Phorm

Phorm, formerly known as 121Media, is a digital technology based in London, New York and Moscow. The company drew attention when it announced it was is in talks with some United Kingdom ISPs to deliver targeted advertising based on a user's profile.

Overview of proposed service

Phorm is working with major British ISPs including BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk regarding a targeted advertisement service which would monitor browsing habits and serve relevant advertisements to the end user.

It would work by categorizing users' interests and matching them with advertisers who wish to target that type of user.

It is claimed that data collected would be completely anonymous and that Phorm will never be aware of the identity of the user or what they have browsed. By monitoring users' browsing, Phorm also claim to offer protection against online fraud and phishing.

Users will be able to opt-out of Phorm's service. However, according to a spokesman for Phorm, the way the opt-out works means the contents of the websites you visit will still be mirrored to its system.

Reaction

Inital reaction to the proposed service has highlighted deep concerns with regards to individual privacy and property rights in data.

It has been alledged that the company behind Phorm, 121media, has previously been involved in distributing Spyware. . Phorm has countered this with an admission of a company history in adware and the closing down of a multi-million dollar revenue stream as people confused adware with spyware

Phorm has engaged with many audiences via online webchats. Full transcripts of these interviews can be found here

The Register recently had an interview with Kent Ertegrul (CEO of Phorm), Marc Burgess (Phorm's senior vice president of technology).

In response to customer concerns, TalkTalk (The Carphone Warehouse) has issued a statement that its implementation will be "opt-in" only and won't use the same method as BT, meaning those that don't "opt-in" will have their traffic split, avoiding contact with a WebWise (Phorm) server.

BT have confirmed they ran a small scale trial at one exchange of a "prototype advertising platform" in 2007 and are said to be developing an improved non-cookie based opt-out of Phorm, BT customers will be able to opt-out of the trial, but no decision has been made as to their post-trial approach

The Home Office has indicated that Phorm's proposed service is legal if users consent.

It has been noted that current Webwise opt-in/opt-out may be vulnerable to being changed by cross-site request forgery (CSRF) exploits, meaning an image link on a website (blog forum, etc) could be used to opt a user in or out without their knowledge.

The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has criticized the idea of tracking his browsing history saying that "It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return." He also said that he would change ISP if they introduced that system.

Questions over legality

The Open Rights Group (ORG) has raised questions about Phorm's legality and asked for clarification of how the service would work.

It is possible that the Phorm service may breach the UK Data Protection Act or RIPA.

Categorised as adware

On March 12, 2008, The Register reported that an anti-malware firms was considering categorising Phorm as adware.

External links

• Phorm
• Anti-Phorm Campaign
• Anti Phorm League
• Dephormation - A Firefox Add-on to automatically opt-out of Phorm
• Petition to UK Prime Minister against Phorm
• Web ads targeted to your every taste
• Web creator rejects net tracking BBC news story featuring Tim-Berners Lee
• Ad system will protect privacy BBC news story