Can ATS opt out of Phorm ?

I don't know if this has been addressed already, I apologise if it has. I've searched the forum & can't find any reference to ATS opting out of Phorm.

Phorm, formerly known as 121Media, is currently working with several British ISP's (including British Telecom, Talk Talk & Virgin Media) to deliver behavioural targeted advertising by analysing their customers browsing histories & surfing habits.

It's hugely controversial this side of the pond. These three ISP's supply 70% of British broadband connections and many regard Phorm as an invasion of privacy, indeed the European Commission may be taking the British Government to court about the whole subject.

I understand that websites can choose to "opt out" of Phorm (known to BT customers as Webwise).

BT Webwise - Information for website owners

Is it possible that ATS could opt out of Phorm for its British contributors ?

Ha. So weird.

The advert I'm getting on this page is British Telecom's - "Come back to BT ... save ££'s ... we're less expensive than Talk Talk".

BT is my own ISP *sigh*

reply to post by The Lass


Hello

Each viewer will be targeted by his computer ip, as you mentioned your receiving U.K. ads because your based in the U.K., it would be useless for you to receive an about a food store in India.

reply to post by The Lass

i got the same thing with my isp i'm belgian and use Tele2

everytime i see it i fail grasp why they could not send a other "commercial message" cause they clearly have to see i have a tele2 ip

reply to post by tristar


I'm OK with British ads, ads generate income & that's what helps ATS. And if I happen to see an advert & buy something all well and good.

But Phorm doesn't just work on IP addresses. Once it fully rolls out it'll know which websites I visit & deliver me tailored ads on that basis.

It's creepy.

There hasn't been a management response to this thread, I'm assuming they haven't read it so ... bumpety bump.

Wiki has recently opted out of Phorm/Webwise ...

Subject: Phorm opt-out for Wikipedia.org and related domains Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:11 -0700 From: Brion Vibber To: [email protected] CC: [email protected] To whom it may concern -- The Wikimedia Foundation requests that our web sites including Wikipedia.org and all related domains be excluded from scanning by the Phorm / BT Webwise system, as we consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors' behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy. Here is a list of our domains which should be excluded (please exclude any and all subdomains as well):

with Phorm's response ...

Subject: Publisher Exclusion Request Autoreply Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:30 -0700 From: website-exclusion To: Brion Vibber Thank you for your submission to the Phorm website exclusion list. If there are no obvious grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the request the URL will be blocked as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours. Requests must be made by the legitimate owner of the domain. If we have questions regarding your domain Phorm may take a number of steps, including attempting to contact the domain administrator by email for confirmation of this request. If the request remains questionable and is not confirmed within 10 days, the URL will be removed from the exclusion list and an email will be sent informing you of this decision. Where applicable, please ensure that the Administrative Contact details for this domain are up to date. If you need to update them, please resubmit your request when the amended details are visible in the WhoIs database - (use a public whois service such as _who.godaddy.com... if you are unsure it has been updated)

Wikimedia Technical Blog

Amazon UK has become the latest company to opt out of Phorm/Webwise.

Last week Marcus Williamson, a U.K.-based Amazon customer wrote to the website's managing director Brian McBride asking for assurances that his history of purchases would not be shared with Phorm. "I can confirm that we have emailed Webwise requesting we 'opt-out' for all of our domains," McBride replied in an email sent to the customer on Tuesday.

PC World - Amazon.co.uk opts out of Phorm Deep Packet Tracking

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, expressed his dissatisfaction with Phorm/Webwise before Parliament in the following terms.

To allow someone to snoop on your internet traffic is to allow them to put a television camera in your room, except it will tell them a whole lot more about you than the television camera.

The Register - Phorm CEO clashes with Berners-Lee in Parliament

I wonder if someone could consider this issue & advise whether ATS can similarly opt out of the Phorm / Webwise tracking system ?

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me
Think I'll go and eat worms
Long thin skinny ones, short fat juicy ones
See how they wriggle and squirm
Bite their heads off, suck their juice out
Throw their skins away
You should see how well I thrive
On worms three times a day !

Echo - echo - echo - echo

I'm listening and agree, I'm surprised the management haven't addressed this yet - perhaps they have been busy? Either way I think it would be in their best interests to opt out, if not maybe conspirators' tongues will start a waggin'.