Forner spyware company now advertising tracker ...

Shouldn't User Tracking Advertising Be Opt-In?
At least one UK ISP seems to think so...


We've been tracking the growing number of advertising firms who are using deep packet inspection gear on the ISP network to track which websites you visit, in order to send you targeted advertisements. While it's a nice deal for ISPs who make additional revenue, and a nice deal for the companies in question (NebuAD, Phorm), it's not much of a deal for consumers, who won't see lower broadband prices and get the added bonus of privacy worries.

We've talked with NebuAD's CEO, who says ISPs at least have to alert their customers they're using it. The few ISPs we've seen deploy these services so far (CenturyTEL comes to mind) haven't exactly been noisy about it, and usually implement the service so it's opt-out only. Reacting to customer concerns, one British ISP named TalkTalk says they're making it opt-in only.

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If U.S. customers aren't going to see price cuts thanks to the added revenue these services provide, it would at least be nice to see them implemented as opt-in. Of course if it's opt-in most customers won't use it, which threatens the added revenue ISPs receive.

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Phorm Gets Proactive in Addressing Privacy Concerns
But is anonymizing their data really enough?

Phorm, a former spyware company that helps ISPs profit by tracking user browsing habits through deep packet inspection hardware. This controversial activity has caused Phorm to go on the PR offensive, engaging in interviews to explain its privacy policies and describing the way that it protects consumers through anonymizing its data collection.

The explanations about their privacy methods include the fact that they are being audited by two independent companies designed to act as a check against their procedures. However many people say that this simply isn’t enough and are acting on this by signing an online petition asking that the Prime Minister stop allowing this kind of activity. In regards to the accusations that the company used to be deeply involved in the spyware business, Phorm says that they were involved only in adware and that they chose to leave the business because of its questionable practices.