UK Government Considers Phorm “Lawful”
The UK government has presented Phorm’s case to the European Union, following questions over the online ad systems legality.
In response to the EU’s request, the government confirmed it believes that Phorm is legal but also said that any future deployments of the system must be carried out with the users consent.
In a statement, the government said: “After conducting its enquiries with Phorm the UK authorities condiser that Phorm’s products are capable of being operated in a lawful, appropriate and transparent fashion.”
Phorm’s system, which tracks web habits in order to provide better targeted ads, came under fire following claims that it had been trialled by BT without the consent of users.
However, the government’s statement to the EU said that in future “users will be presented with an unavoidable statement about the product and asked to exercise choice about whether to be involved”.
It added: “Users will be able to easily access information on how to change their mind at any point and are free to opt in or out of the scheme.”
It also said that profiles are based on a unique ID rather than the identity of users, while Phorm does not keep a record of the actual site visits.
Phorm: www.phorm.com