Comments on: While NebuAd Retreats, Phorm and BT Plow Ahead

By: BT Dumps Phorm, But ISPs Have No Plans to Dump Ads

BT Dumps Phorm, But ISPs Have No Plans to Dump Ads — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:29:16 +0000

[...] BT had conducted secret pilots of the Phorm technology that had some customers feeling spied upon. Talk Talk and Virgin Media are still eyeing Phorm’s technology, although neither has seemed as enthusiastic as [...]

By: DPI Doesn’t Kill The Open Internet, Carriers Do

DPI Doesn’t Kill The Open Internet, Carriers Do — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:02:10 +0000

[...] by Comcast in throttling P2P traffic, in Cox’s traffic prioritization scheme, the role DPI played in NebuAd’s plans to monitor web surfing in order to deliver advertising, and the use of such equipment to [...]

By: Shakeup at Phorm Continues, Executives Leave

Shakeup at Phorm Continues, Executives Leave — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:35:20 +0000

[...] some company executives and board members left Phorm after disagreeing with CEO Kent Ertugrul. Phorm had been in trials with British Telecom that concluded earlier this month. Phorm continues to move forward, and BT is [...]

By: Phorm Execs Jump Ship - GigaOM

Phorm Execs Jump Ship - GigaOM — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:50:17 +0000

[...] has already replaced them, and plans to continue selling ISPs on a program that delivers targeted advertisements based on where a customer surfs on the web. [...]

By: AT&T Controls the Future of Privacy — Seriously - GigaOM

AT&T Controls the Future of Privacy — Seriously - GigaOM — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:55:10 +0000

[...] startup called NebuAd to monitor where a consumer surfs the web and serve ads against those visits. Other companies are trying this as well. Since then, Congress has held two hearings on online privacy, with one related to data [...]

By: Orange Rejects Phorm But Hears The Siren Song of Ads - GigaOM

Orange Rejects Phorm But Hears The Siren Song of Ads - GigaOM — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:41 +0000

[...] privacy. This would make Orange the odd man out in the country. BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk are all still on board with Phorm, although their resolve may be weakening, judging by the fact that none of them have put [...]

By: Jonah

Jonah — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:19:44 +0000

For DPI also read it as “Deep Packet Injection”, the very seedy side of this system any code or image can be changed or your Browser redirected to totally the Wrong Web Address.

This is a cocktail for anarchy on the WWW, just because the technology is possible it does not mean it should ever be used when confronted with the complications & massive personal & data protection issues it will cause!

Why is the nuclear industry subject to such strong regulations, this could have the same sort of Global Implications when it comes to Privacy & Data Protection!

By: Jordan Mitchell

Jordan Mitchell — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Peter, I believe the difference comes down to trust, freedom of choice and end-user value. And very soon I think it will also come down to end-user transparency and control.

I have a choice which browser to use, which site to visit, etc. I have much less of a choice which ISP I can use.

More at http://kickstand.typepad.com/metamuse/2008/09/behavioral-ta-1.html.

By: fred

fred — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:38:51 +0000

Its spyware. It tracks and reads every page you visit. Opt out / in is meaningless, all that happens is you don’t get targetted ads, the spying on your connection continues.
Hopefully any trial will also give the BT cancellation line a good stress test.

By: G

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:47:27 +0000

@peter – YOU ARE RIGHT ON – and most people just don’t get it…..

By: Simon Franklin

Simon Franklin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:11:03 +0000

The tracking Google and Revenue science does is easy to avoid. Having all you network traffic intercepted by deep packet inspection if you are opted in OR OUT is not.

By: peter

peter — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:25:34 +0000

no different than what google does or any ad network like revenue science. only difference here is ISP’s looking to do it at the network level, today’s behavioral ad networks do it at the site level. you can be sure google’s new chrome definitely tracks at the browser level, though under the guise of “improving web surfing experience.”

By: Benjamin Wright

Benjamin Wright — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:52:55 +0000

Whether they are Opt-out or Opt-in, privacy policies are governed in good part by contract law. Contract law is a two-way street. Just as advertising networks can communicate to visitors/customers what they assert to be the legal terms, customers can communicate back!

In principle, contract law does not favor either businesses or customers/users. As the future of privacy law unfolds, individuals may be able to use contract law to assert their legal terms on other parties, such as search engines or advertisers. Why shouldn’t a consumer be able to broadcast what she expects to be the legal terms under which she does business? –Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-privacy-policy-terms-of-service.html

My ideas are not legal advice for any particular situation; they are just ideas for public discussion.