Phorm provides a service where surfers' browsing patterns are monitored so that they can in turn be targeted with more accurate advertising.

BT, Virgin and The Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk have all signed deals with the company in which they have agreed to provide Phorm with their customers' browsing data. Both the Guardian and MySpace already have deals in place to provide targeted advertising.

However, the FIPR believe that Phorm is operating outside of the law as stipulated by the Regulations of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, because it intercepts customers' web traffic.

"The Phorm system is highly intrusive – it's like the Post Office opening all my letters to see what I'm interested in, merely so that I can be sent a better class of junk mail," said Richard Clayton, treasurer of FIPR, in an open letter to the Information Commissioner.

"Not surprisingly, when you look closely, this activity turns out to be illegal. We hope that the Information Commissioner will take careful note of our analysis when he expresses his opinion on the scheme," Mr Clayton added.

Some 6,400 people have signed a petition on the 10 Downing Street website asking for the government to prevent ISPs from implementing Phorm.

On Monday, BT admitted to using customers' data without their consent to test new advertising technology supplied by Phorm. Customers of the telecoms company are now considering legal action as a result of having their surfing time compromised last year.

In a statement from the company, BT admitted that they conducted a test but said, it "was specifically conducted to evaluate the functional and technical performance of the platform. Absolutely no personally identifiable information was processed, stored or disclosed during this trial."

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the internet, has added his weight to the argument, by stating that he would switch his internet provider if they were to use targeted advertising.

In an interview with the BBC, Berners-Lee lashed out at the ISPs plan to sell customers browsing data. "It's mine – you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return."

However, Nate Elliot, analyst with Jupiter Research, poured scorn on Berners-Lee's comments. He said that customers shouldn't be put off by behavioural targeting, which is already practiced by Google.

Writing in a company blog, Elliot said: "I'm sure Sir Berners-Lee is one of the great minds of the digital world – but either he has never bothered to read up on behavioural targeting, or he doesn't know the meaning of the word 'anonymous,' or he simply doesn't trust his ISP."

Phorm chief executive Kent Ertugrul also insists the service will be very easy to switch off. He said: "It's a choice. If people think it's not a choice, they will feel it is being rammed down their throat and will react very, very badly. The very first you will see when you go online after it has been deployed is a full-page notice and at that point, if you are not happy, you can opt out."

Don't miss the next issue of Web User magazine, for sale on 27 March, where we examine all the issues raised by Phorm.

What do you think of Phorm? Have your say or see what other people are saying about the Phorm advertising system in our forums.

www.fipr.org
www.phorm.com
www.jupiterresearch.com

Back to index