Phorm Set to Spread Across Entire BT Network

Not a good day for privacy advocates in the U.K.

Today, news broke that Phorm has ended its behavioral targeting trials with ISP British Telecom, which means that the controversial service will now be rolled out across the entire network.

An investor update distributed by Phorm this morning said the trial had “achieved its primary objective of testing all the elements necessary for a larger deployment”. Started in late September, the Phorm trials have been highly controversial, but a BT confirmed their success and stated that the ISP “expects to move towards deployment” by mid-next year.

That’s not all, folks. In addition to making plans to open a number of “exploratory offices” in other countries, Phorm is being tested by the ISPss Virgin Media and TalkTalk. Should these U.K. ISPs agree to deploy Phorm, the service will effectively cover most UK broadband subscribers.

BT silences users in Phorm debate

First BT ran initial trials of Phorm without user consent. Now it seems the UK Internet service provider has banned its users from even discussing the controversial ad-targeting system on BT forums.

All discussion of the controversial behavioral advertising system was simply removed last week in order to “ensure that the forums remain constructive.”

While the legitimacy of behavioral targeting is still up for debate, BT’s move to banish all customer feedback on the topic seems unjust and ultimately unwise.

Like it or not, we’ve entered into an age of open communication online. To silence customer objections in the face of skepticism and fear only makes it look like BT has something to hide.

Privacy Cops Weekly News Watch

A new lawsuit filed against NebuAd brought behavioral targeting into the spotlight again, while talk of a national CTO under Obama gave us hope for some formalized regulation in the years to come. Here’s a round-up of stories we’ve been following this week:

A group of Web users filed a lawsuit against the ad targeting enterprise and the six ISPs that utilized the company’s technology without user consent, leading to speculation that the death of behavioral targeting may be near.

At the NewTeeVee Live conference, Canoe Ventures confirmed that behavioral targeting is still alive and well — at least when it comes to your television. This week, they announced plans for new features that will send targeted advertising to your television.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Patient Privacy Rights sent a letter to Google’s Eric Schmidt, suggesting that Google Flu Trends create privacy concerns.

In mobile news, looks like developers of third-party iPhone Applications can now hack Apple’s iTunes App Store. We expect this will be the first of many mobile privacy issues to arise as the Internet moves to the handheld.

Privacy Cops Weekly News Watch

Here’s a round-up of stories that caught our eye this week. Let us know if you saw any interesting posts that we should include.

Ad-tracking on the go. What will be the consensus on location-based wireless advertising?
GPS-Based Mobile Ads: Where does privacy fit?

Akamai acquired acerno, now the data you research and buy online determines advertisements you see on other sites.
Akamai Introduces Advertising Decision Solutions; Announces Agreement to Acquire acerno

… then Saul Hansell asked if targeting ads based on online shopping is legit
What Online Stores Sell: Data About You

We got a thorough analysis of where John McCain stands on issues of online security
Tech Policy and the Financial Crisis

We read a thought-provoking argument for ad-tracking within limits
Who needs digital privacy?

Now Internet users can select the best browser for them based on their personal privacy needs
Internet Browsers Increasingly Competing on Privacy Controls

Target Regulation

Behavioral targeting, unlike its stepchildren contextual and site-level targeting, has morphed into a murky area where protocols once debated and formalized by standard setting bodies no longer apply. The technology is out-pacing the industry’s ability to self-regulate, and as such, there are different and competing points of view on what is acceptable and what is not. So, the courts and independent lobbies are left to fight these issues on a case by case basis.

But why should this be so complicated? Some companies are in fact using the exact standards and protocols endorsed by the IAB and others to achieve behavioral targeting. Look at Tacoda – they uses plain old cookies to anonymously track user profiles over time. No one is upset about them? That’s because the industry has spent considerable effort in devising user acceptable means to participate in the control of it’s application.

I’m talking about cookies – those little files that enable sites to remember you and pre-log you in etc. All current browsers now have GUI controls to “clear your private data”. Cookies were the subject of dispute for years as the direct response on-line industry grew from nothing to something (I’m referring to the 1996 – 2001 days). Now they are included in an array of best practices, recommended uses, and technical standards to ensure a level playing field with regard to user privacy.

The behavioral targeting discussion is fundamentally a standards argument that requires commercial companies to affect leadership, while embracing the IAB and others to develop a framework for discussion and problem-solving.

Thus, consider this a call-to-action for any organization that considers themselves an arbiter of industry best practices. Step-up and organize THE platform of debate or it will otherwise work itself through a barrage of legalese and consumer injustice over the next several years. And who loses then? We all do.