Can MSE opt out of Phorm please?

bonzer · 18 April 2009 at 5:23PM

Hi,

If you read the technology press, you may have noticed that a number of high profile web sites including Amazon and Wikipedia have recently opted out of an invasive advertising technology called Phorm.

Can I request that MSE also opt out please?

Phorm (also known as Webwise) tracks where users go on the internet, reads pages they visit, profiles the user and then serves them adverts based on the text of pages they have recently viewed. Nobody wants it, there was a 21,000+ signature petition against it on the Prime Minister's web site. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, has repeatedly condemmed it. It's certainly of no possible commercial value to MSE since you do not show adverts or have anything to do with advertising. In fact it may well be detrimental as it reads your page content when someone visits and then uses keywords from your site to prompt competing adverts to be displayed to the user elsewhere.

All you have to do I think is email this address with the MSE domain name (from an official MSE e-mail account). Will just take two minutes.

[EMAIL="website-exclusion@webwise.com"]website-exclusion@webwise.com[/EMAIL]

I got the e-mail address from here (BT is one of the ISPs deploying Phorm).

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/webwise/help.html#how-do-i-prevent-webwise-from-scanning-my-site

Thank You

Bonzer

Browntoa · 18 April 2009 at 5:28PM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/14/eu_phorm_formal/

In a statement released today, EU telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said the Phorm case showed UK laws needed to be tightened to protect consumers and comply with the ePrivacy Directive. New Labour signed the UK up to the ePrivacy Directive in 2002 and it came into force in October 2003.

poppy10_2 · 19 April 2009 at 11:29PM

Great idea. Phorm is a terrible invasion of privacy and goes against the ethos of MSE.

Here is the Wikipedia opt-out request email - it's fairly simple to do.

Subject: Phorm opt-out for Wikipedia.org and related domains
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:11 -0700
From: Brion Vibber <brion@wikimedia.org> To: website-exclusion@webwise.com

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):

icefall · 20 April 2009 at 12:24AM

Yes please opt out of Phorm MSE

Is Tiscali one of the isp's implementing this does anyone know?

poppy10_2 · 20 April 2009 at 1:29AM

icefall wrote: »

Is Tiscali one of the isp's implementing this does anyone know?

No, the three ISPs that have signed up so far are BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk - between them they provide 70% of the broadband in the UK. Shame on them.

~Chameleon~ · 20 April 2009 at 1:38AM

I never see any adverts on webpages anyway. You only have to use something like Adblock to stop them.

I also block all scripts from 3rd parties so I'm assuming this Phorm thing can't trace which sites I use? ... or does it use some other method of tracking?

poppy10_2 · 20 April 2009 at 2:05AM

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I never see any adverts on webpages anyway. You only have to use something like Adblock to stop them.

I also block all scripts from 3rd parties so I'm assuming this Phorm thing can't trace which sites I use? ... or does it use some other method of tracking?

Adblock/NoScript won't save you from the tracking. Phorm works on the server side, not at your computer.

The way it works is that it diverts ALL your web traffic via their servers - where it is analyzed (deep packet inspection) to gather information about you - e.g. your shopping habits or what kind of forums or pr0n sites you visit. That information is then used to pick advertisements targeted at you individually, which are inserted into websites which sign up to Phorm.

Adblock will stop you seeing the ads, but it won't stop you being tracked and a profile of your web browsing being built up and stored without your permission. Deleting the cookies on your computer will have no effect, because your data profile will be stored on the Phorm servers.

Sites like MSE and Wikipedia, even though they don't carry adverts, will have their visitors browsing habits data-mined unless they specifically opt out. So, say for example I posted a new thread on the Debt Free Wannabe boards on MSE, and then navigate to a web-page that carries adverts, there could be a big banner ad for a commercial company offering to roll all my personal loans into 'one easy to manage' mega-loan.

It's creepy, not to mention the concerns if the personal data was to be leaked or hacked into, or used by the government as part of their charade on terror.

~Chameleon~ · 20 April 2009 at 2:17AM

poppy10 wrote: »

Adblock/NoScript won't save you from the tracking. Phorm works on the server side, not at your computer.

Ahhh I see, thanks for that. However, I still have no worries at present as my ISP is refusing point blank to allow Phorm access to it's servers unless/until it becomes compulsory.

MSE_Martin · 20 April 2009 at 9:24PM

Just to say we've noticed this and will take a look

[Deleted User] · 21 April 2009 at 11:53AM

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I never see any adverts on webpages anyway. You only have to use something like Adblock to stop them.

I also block all scripts from 3rd parties so I'm assuming this Phorm thing can't trace which sites I use? ... or does it use some other method of tracking?

ugh, I wish people wouldn't do this. I don't enjoy seeing adverts and I do block pop-ups, but blocking all adverts with things like adblock is causing harm to a lot of smaller websites, especially ones that rely on adverts to boost their revenue and make the sites viable. There's a vast majority that have lost lots of revenue because of the increase of people blocking adverts, I wish it didn't happen.

I can understand pop up advert blocking and being against phorm, but blocking all adverts is selfish.

~Chameleon~ · 21 April 2009 at 2:14PM

citricsquid wrote: »

I can understand pop up advert blocking and being against phorm, but blocking all adverts is selfish.

Why is it selfish?

I prefer not to be bombarded with adverts for things I have absolutely no interest in. And yes, I also hate adverts on tv!

If I want to buy a product or service I will search for it myself, so my using Adblock to stop these adverts appearing on my screen has absolutely no impact whatsoever on anyone :rolleyes:

In fact I'd go as far as to say that many of these adverts are actually harmful to vulnerable people who would perhaps not even consider purchasing a particular product/service until it was thrust under their noses!!!! :mad:

Can MSE opt out of Phorm please?

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