Phorm airs privacy fears over Google’s Latitude

Phorm, the behavioural targeting company at the centre of a recent row over privacy, has hit out at Google’s Latitude mobile service, accusing the firm of “adding yet more personal data to the extensive user information it collects”.

Latitude, which lets mobile users allow people on their Gmail contact list to track where they are, was criticised by Phorm in a newsletter released by the company.

“The launch of Google Latitude resulted in the voices of privacy advocates ringing out around the world and a severe case of tinnitus for the search engine’s PR people,” said Phorm.

It added: “A major concern of privacy groups is that the company is adding yet more personal data to the extensive user information it collects from its search engine and its display ad serving company, DoubleClick.

“Clearly online privacy continues to be a worry and people’s fears about misuse of their information are exacerbated by other recent developments. For example, Facebook’s now suspended plans to retain data even after a user has deleted their page and the possible compromising of people’s details when the jobs site, Monster, was hacked in January.”

Phorm also responded to criticism of its own technology in the newsletter, saying that “it is not the same as is having a ‘spy camera’ in your room, nor is it akin to the post office reading people’s letters”.

“The system is more like a mail sorting machine, which has no knowledge of who you are, and directs the right ad to the right person. The data used to reach conclusions about users’ interests is processed in real time and discarded almost instantly.”