Orange's Phorm decision welcomed

Privacy campaigner Alexander Hanff has welcomed ISP Orange's decision to rule out using the controversial Phorm advertising technology.

Orange last week said that it had no plans to utilise Phorm, which aims to provide targeted advertising by assessing the type of websites a surfer visits.

Privacy campaigners such as Hanff say the Phorm system goes too far and is tantamount to snooping.

Hanff told Web User: "Whereas the technology is a gift to the advertising industry there are serious privacy implications which need to be addressed and primarily customers' informed consent must be obtained.

"I fully support Orange's decision to be open and honest about their intentions with the general public and applaud their judgement not to use Phorm or the WebWise product," Hanff continued.

BT has already begun trials of the Phorm system, which is being branded at BT Webwise. The Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media are also expected to begin trials of Phorm soon.

http://nodpi.org
www.orange.co.uk
www.phorm.com