Phorm - a sign of things to come?

[nichomach]

Worth a look - Phorm launches data pimping fight back | The Register

[Lee H]

Worth a butchers

CPW builds wall between customers and Phorm | The Register

more on-goings into the phorm saga that's appearing.

[Lucio]

Gah! this is frustrating

I can't cancel my BT contract over this Phorm crap because there isn't another LLU partner I can go to. Be Broadband have refused to connect me on distance grounds (6km), Sky Broadband only works with their router (which won't work with my laptop) and Pipex/Tiscalli is just a terrible terrible product!

[Nickg]

Who has ever clicked on an online advert anyway? if i want something i simply go to the shop that i would like to e-transact it from, or from a search/price comparison engine..

Adverts are the BAIN of the internet, they eat bandwith, promise things that cannot be delivered.

How is targetted marketing a "Benefit" to users who cannot stand to be pestered with any form of advertising at all?

Maybe if EVERYONE on the web simply stopped clicking banner adverts and all sorts - maybe - the lack of revenues would force all these startups to concede that they will never work and stop littering the internet with their tripe?

[Sinizter]

.. BAIN ..

How is targetted marketing a "Benefit" to users who cannot stand to be pestered with any form of advertising at all?

Maybe if EVERYONE on the web simply stopped clicking banner adverts and all sorts - maybe - the lack of revenues would force all these startups to concede that they will never work and stop littering the internet with their tripe?

Bane.

I dont see ads as any benefit. I have not clicked on any banner ad or google ads on sites for more than a year now. In most cases, I use adblock. Especially to avoid being pestered by those Intellitext or whatever it is that underlines words in articles and then make ads out of them. As for banner ads with flash ... nothing makes me madded than some stupid flashing crap on my screen. Adblock and away it goes. Sites I visit are not losing out because I wouldnt have clicked on any of those ads in the first place. But I do use their affiliate links if they are done in a reasonable manner - provided I got the info from that site.

[peterb]

I block the adservers at my router, although that can lead to delays loading a page until the 'missing'ads time out. A more sophisticated approach would be to usea proxy server, configured so that requests to the blacklisted adservers redirect to a locally generated blank page.

[Splash]

I'll be honest - I occasionally click ads. Sometimes I'll even follow through and make a purchase.

That said it's about the same with TV - occasionally I'll see an ad for something and do some investigation, maybe even buy it. But that's taking the thread slightly OT.

Lucio - is it an absolute must that you move to an LLU supplier? What exchange are you on?

[Lucio]

Lucio - is it an absolute must that you move to an LLU supplier? What exchange are you on?

I'm on the Hemel 01442 exchange, has to be an LLU supplier because I have no doubt that BT Wholesale will magically sign up to Phorm in very short order...

Anyhow, atm Sky looks to be my best bet, even though it comes with their crappy router..

[santa claus]

I can't really understand why this hasn't generated more posts. Phorm is the biggest intrusion into personal privacy since Big Brother started filming our every move as we do nothing more innocuous than walk around the shops. There is an absolute furore on a number of other forums. It might be that here at Hexus the subject is "hidden" away in the Networking and Broadband thread when it has implications for a much wider audience.

Phorm has the potential to monitor all your internet browsing through the auspices of your ISP. The system they propose is "opt-out" not "opt-in"; you will be monitored unless you "opt-out" everytime you browse unless you retain the Phorm cookie permanently on your computer. Even then, your visits to sites can be logged.

Phorm as a Company is headed by a man previously involved in spyware and root kits. The question in relation to the use of your data is, as Dirty Harry would say, "Well punk, d'ya feel lucky?" because they will see everything you do and serve you targeted ads for your viewing pleasure. What else thay will do with your information is anybody's guess.

Your ISP will be rewarded with millions of pounds. In other words, you will pay them for your internet service and advertisers will pay them for your data. They get paid twice. You get nothing but trash and being constantly "watched". Capow.

Bad Phorm.

[iranu]

This is the first time I've heard about it and I look at the Register now and then. I suspect people simply don't know about it. I'm highly suspicious of anything that would allow tracking of peoples internet habits. I wonder what else will be found out about such an insidious piece of software.

[Mike Fishcake]

Thing is, if ISPs take this on, and, in a bid to be more competitive, reduce the rates of their BB package, many (the majority of?) average people aren't going to care as long as they get their cheap ISP. Who cares about privacy, when you can save a couple of quid a month? :-/

[santa claus]

Who cares about privacy, when you can save a couple of quid a month? :-/

Well, not you I guess so this Christmas I'll bring everyone around to take a look through all your personal belongings. Actually, Phorm will be doing that to you a lot sooner.

And no, you won't save a couple of quid, ISP's are selling their customers down the river to make money, not give it away. Duh.

[mmh]

how will this work? will they actually REPLACE the ads on a page, or will websites have to sign up to thier ad campaign?

surely this would have a detremental effect on websites that already have ads with say google ads, if this company start changing ads on pages for thier own "targetted" links?

[j1979]

virgin are currently mulling over if they should make Phorm optional.

so if your with virgin id get calling in and sending emails to stop this BS.

[Whiternoise]

Interesting interview with the boss of Phorm on the reg:

Phorm launches data pimping fight back | The Register

My favourite comment:

Look, if we had anything to hide we wouldn't invite you in here. We'd give you some BS statement saying "no comment".

And then down the page a bit:

KE: We've been working with BT for quite some time. The announcement wasn't the product of a couple of weeks' discussions.

The BT engineers evaluated our system, but I can't comment on the exact nature of any evaluation that they did.

Riiight...

And BT's page for webwise (afaik the service that takes your browsing history): BT Webwise | BT.com

[Phil_P]

I block the adservers at my router, although that can lead to delays loading a page until the 'missing'ads time out. A more sophisticated approach would be to usea proxy server, configured so that requests to the blacklisted adservers redirect to a locally generated blank page.

Blocking them in the HOSTS file is a far more efficient way as this is searched before any DNS requests and times out instantly when pointed to localhost. Of course the down side is you have to maintain a HOSTS file across all PCs on your network although this is easy to automate if you have many PCs.