Phorm and its Webwise system launched to a wave of controversy back in March, with critics believing the company was spying on ISPs. Although Phorm has consistently denied it spies on web users, software like AntiPhormLite has sprouted up to counteract the Webwise service.
Now the government has been given a deadline to decide whether Webwise is actually breaking any European data privacy laws.
The deadline was given to the UK by Viviane Reding, the European Telecoms and Media Commissioner, who in a letter asked for clarification about the web monitoring software.
This letter was sent to the government in July, but no other information about what was included in it has been made public.
BT trials continue
One of the companies who took part in trials of the Phorm software was BT. The company's initial trial was meant to be a secret one but information was leaked online. Despite the criticisms, BT is still set to continue trialling Webwise on an even bigger level.
Reding's letter of clarification marks the second time that Phorm has been under scrutiny. The first was back in May and was done by the Information Commissions Office (ICO).
After a thorough investigation of Phorm and the companies using it, however, no action was taken.
Your comments (1) Click to add a new comment
felixcatuk
August 6th 2008
1. ICO review of Phorm was hardly "thorough".
The ICO have stated in their own words that "The ICO are not technical experts", and thus relied on assurances from Phorm and BT. Which is a bit suprising for the body responsible for governing IT.
Details;
http://www.dephormation.org.uk/documents/ico_documents_covering_letters.pdf
So rather than hire that expertise, as you might expect an independent industry regulator to do, they instead agreed a public statement with BT/Phorm, relying on independent experts to do their job for them.
They didn't even ask for documentation concerning the 2006/7 trials, and only saw the report into the 2006 trial because it was independently leaked.
Their investigation wasn't thorough at all.
More info is here;
http://www.dephormation.org.uk/?page=13
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments