“The Phorm system learns your interests by snooping on your internet web traffic. Your ISP does the necessary wiretap in exchange for a cut when advertisers pay a premium for learning precisely what to try and sell you. It’s rather like the postman getting money to peek at your letters, so you can receive a better class of junk mail.”

Richard Clayton perfectly sums up the Phorm advertising system. Despite it being a clear breach of the right to privacy and explicitly illegal under both UK and EU law, the British government has refused to take action against it, prompting the European Commission to step in. From The Guardian, here.

Posted Thursday, April 16th, 2009 @ 1:14 am
Filed in business and productivity, community and social, human rights, politics, science and tech

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