Phorm launches personalised web browsing service
Phorm is set to launch a new Webwise Discover service that aims to personalise users’ website visits by highlighting the content it recognises they are interested in.
The behavioural targeting company said the service will be available to users and website administrators in the UK by the end of the year, following a trial of the webtool in Korea, which started on May 21.
Phorm is currently in discussions over potential partnerships with BT, Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media for its UK launch, according to reports.
The Webwise Discover tool has been designed to appear as a small box on a web user’s screen, featuring news stories, pictures, videos or sales offers that it thinks will appeal to them.
It can automatically locate and present articles on the users’ favourite celebrity or sports team on the news sites.
Users can choose to opt-in to the service, which will be offered free-of-charge by selected ISPs, and can switch it off and on at any time.
Kent Ertugrul, CEO of Phorm, said: “The internet is changing, people want the web to reflect their interests. We will offer them a more intuitive experience, with personalised content and advertising, as well as inbuilt anti-phishing.”
Phorm said the service, which has been designed using the its controversial behavioural targeting technology, is completely anonymous – keeping no record of browsing history or personal information.
The company has come under intense scrutiny over the past few months, with the Open Rights Group urging companies such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook to block the online advertising system from tracking users (see Amazon blocks Phorm).
In response, Phorm launched a website to “hit back at the privacy pirates smear campaign” against its service (see Phorm fights back with new website).
The ‘StopPhoulPlay’ site aims to set out Phorm’s defence amid on-going opposition that the advertising targeting system invades users’ ePrivacy and data protection rights.
Phorm’s site claims that “over the last year Phorm has been the subject of a smear campaign orchestrated by a small but dedicated band of online “privacy pirates” who appear very determined to harm our company”.
“Their energetic blogging and letter-writing campaigns, targeted at journalists, MPs, EU officials and regulators, distort the truth and misrepresent Phorm’s technology. We have decided to expose the smears and set out the true story, so that you can judge the facts for yourself,” explains the site.
StopPhoulPlay has picked out individual campaigners and publications, which it claims are “the main characters in the anti-Phorm campaign”, such as the Open Rights Group.
In April, Amazon UK and Wikipedia both blocked the Phorm from their portfolio of sites, with Wikipedia saying it “considers the scanning and profiling of our visitors’ behaviour by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy” (see Wikipedia to block Phorm).
The European Commission has also started legal proceedings against the UK over the behavioural ad company to address “several problems with the UK’s implementation of EU ePrivacy and personal data protection rules, under which EU countries must ensure… the confidentiality of communications by prohibiting interception and surveillance without the user’s consent” (see European Commission begins legal action on Phorm).
Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner, said: “Technologies like internet behavioural advertising can be useful for businesses and consumers but they must be used in a way that complies with EU rules. These rules are there to protect the privacy of citizens and must be rigorously enforced by all member states.
“We have been following the Phorm case for some time and have concluded that there are problems in the way the UK has implemented parts of EU rules on the confidentiality of communications. I call on the UK authorities to change their national laws and ensure that national authorities are duly empowered and have proper sanctions at their disposal to enforce EU legislation on the confidentiality of communications.
“This should allow the UK to respond more vigorously to new challenges to ePrivacy and personal data protection such as those that have arisen in the Phorm case. It should also help reassure UK consumers about their privacy and data protection while surfing the internet.”