Signs Of Victory Against The Internet Spy Phorm

[shadowx 0]

Fellow trappers, i bring news of victory against an unparalleled and evil enemy, the internet spy-lord known as Phorm, formerly 121Media may have been defeated by the grand-lord Information commissioners Office (ICO) Ok maybe ive been playing RPGs too long but the jist is this:

Those who have been around a bit will remember my post in this very sub-forum about Phorm, Phorm used to be called 121Media who created terribly spy/adware problems for millions of users, they renamed themselves Phorm and are taking a less direct route to spying, they will be installed by your ISP (or MAY be installed) and will monitor and log all of your web surfing habbits and then serve adverts on websites that sign up. So its another spyware adware combo.

Many of us have bene outraged and complained and made it into the news as Phorm clearly violates the data protection act because it was an Opt Out system and that caused more sparks that you had to say no rather than yes. Anyway the ICO has suggested that Phorm MUST be an opt in system, whether or not this is a legal requirement i do not know, however i feel that the ICO has made it clear that Phorm MUST be opt-in so your ISP will have to contact you and ask you to say yes. If this is the case i suspect ISPs wont take it up and 121Media will once again be destroyed. And even if ISPs do adopt it, how many people are going to sign up?! the only way they will do it is by wording the request in such a way that not so intelligent users will think it is a good thing.

I suspect the share prices in Phorm will dive at this news And i wish the founders and all shareholders extreme poverty and suffering

So if your ISP offers you " a great new service" promising "new advertising opportunities" to "enhance your surfing experience" Roll up that letter, march down to your ISP and stuff it firmly up their tailpipe!

Victory is ours Trappers, for the free world!

News Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7339263.stm

[jopak134 0]

your isp agreeing to put adware and spyware to their lines? isnt that illegal? is this in the us only?

[Saint_Michael 3]

No there is a difference between legal and illegal adware. best example would be google adsense and the way they set up their adware system. An example of bad adware is when you install unknown software and you keep getting these pop up messages and stuff like that. However, with shadowx post what this company is doing is crossing that fine line, especially since it concerns people's personal security and Identity. Now that brings a question what are American ISP's doing with adware like this? Although the regulations are very tight I highly doubt American ISP use outside adware companies and just produce their own advertisements.

[rvalkass 5]

Finally it seems that logic has hit these people. Phorm being an opt-out system was probably the worst thing they could ever have done. Using a cookie on your computer to make sure you really want to opt-out! Of course, if users do opt out then the cookie would likely get wiped out after a few days without you even noticing.

 

It seems to have been decided that what UK ISPs are doing is illegal unless you explicitly opt-in, and it is made clear exactly what you are opting in to, and what the data will be used for.

 

You can also test to see if your account is being monitored.

 

the only way they will do it is by wording the request in such a way that not so intelligent users will think it is a good thing.

I think you'll find a vast majority of software and hardware is marketed in that way.

[shadowx 0]

Uhoh... I sense a loop hole...:

Targeted online advertising services should be provided with the explicit consent of ISPs' users or by the acceptance of the ISP terms and conditions.

That isnt good... Though as the article also states a significant change to T&C's means you should be able to terminate the internet service immediately but then you're left with no internet... Bad times.

 

As much as i would love to see Phorm crash and burn and with all involved suffer unimaginable pain i wouldnt be so inclined if this was an opt in system. I wouldnt like it and nor would i sign up but i would be content to let it happen.

 

I just fear the trouble of moving ISPs should Tiscal adopt Phorm (i hear getting the MAC code from Tiscali to painlessly transfer to another ISP is a pain in the butt despite the fact it should be easy as pie, and yes i will switch ISPs if Tiscali adopt Phorm)

 

what this company is doing is crossing that fine line, especially since it concerns people's personal security and Identity

And there is the problem... Some, especially Phorm and ISPs, say that no personally identifiable information is collected, which i think is true. I dont think Phorm could find me, however they surely capture my IP at some stage, even if its deleted so does that still count?

 

Also the Data Protection Act, states that information can only be collected if i know exactly what is collected and agree to it being collected and i have full rights to see it all. So.. If i say to my ISP PRIOR to Phorm being adopted that i firmly do not consent to this data being collected for or by any means, are Phorm or my ISP in contravention of the DPA? I would say yes, however their lawyers would say no. Do i know exactly what is being collected? no i have only the vaguest of ideas...but then, do i REALLY need to know? And can i really have access to this data that is collected? Well if nothing personally identifiable is collected then of course i cant, they wont know what data to show me and to show it all to me would be another contravention of the DPA, then again if nothing personal is collected i dont think the DPA applies....

 

Phorm really does sit on this Razor's edge, i feel though that todays news will drop their share prices so low that they will really get scared.

 

The thing that scares me is that what the ICO has said isnt legal yet, i think its just a suggestion and a "moral law" so Phorm could still be opt-out with no legal penalties...

 

I urge you all to contact your ISP and state you are not prepared to be invaded like this and state the DPA (google it for a more comprehensive understanding) and that you dont consert..blah..blah... Make sure you talk to a manager though...

 

Hopefully we can find an ISP that firmly disagrees with Phorm and is reasonably priced

 

Something that is rather ironic is this article: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ One of the UKs top 6 ISPs, TalkTalk has said it will not bow down to the music industry with its pleas to warn and then ban users who infringe copyright issues with downloading/sharing music (another diabolical idea..) Yet TalkTalk was one of the first to say it likes Phorm.

 

However i read a little more on the BBC website and have discovered TalkTalk will only adopt Phorm with an Opt-In system. So far TalkTalk has two thumbs up, it wont spy on me for the music industry, nor will it spy on me with Phorm.. Good so far

 

And this topic applies only in the UK, so far..

[tricky77puzzle 0]

It's always good to see governments acting to enforce corporate transparency...I just wish the US would do the same. I don't live there, but we're close neighbours, and their policies might spill over. The US already does this to their customers, all in the name of "stopping DRM circumvention". I mean, if you really want people to stop, then remove the DRM that shouldn't have been there in the first place that they're trying to circumvent, instead of trying futilely to strengthen it!If a sword is inside your suit of armour, then you're not going to try to strengthen your armour, you're going to want to remove the armour with the sword inside it.

[gameratheart 0]

Well I'm just glad that the regulatory agencies have responded to logic and given us a safety net against what could potentially be a very evil system. At least we know there are HUMANS out there in the very forces designed to protect and serve us.Opt-Out was a dangerous system because it required a cookie to work, and not only are cookies easy to erase and hard to replace, but it is possible for some advertising scripts to completely ignore them. Opt-In will give us a more permanent way of saying "No", and I think a lot of people will prefer that approach. Besides, isn't in law that if you are part of something that sends data, you should know what the data is and what it'll be used for? This way we can make sure we know.One final comment: rvalkass is completely right with his comment about advertising. In fact, not just software and hardware, but practically everything in the world is deliberately advertised in such a way that the less-knowledgable users will be persuaded into thinking it's a good thing. That's why we need to wise up and find out what REALLY is.

Edited June 20, 2008 by gameratheart (see edit history)