Receptional_Andy - 12:51 pm on Apr 16, 2009 (gmt 0)

swa66 - Richard Clayton has done a lot of good research into phorm, also on his blog.

Yoshimi - it's about consent, and how that is acquired. You might have no problem with this, and want to opt in - I have a problem with it and don't want my information intercepted by third parties.

It seems phorm are well aware that the system is unlikely to attract many opt-ins - hence their attempts to make it opt out, and them tagging on to what is essentially an advertising system the ability to block phishing websites etc. If you read a lot of the consumer-facing stuff phorm put out originally, it is all about safety and protecting web users - scarcely a mention of advertising. IMO this is an attempt to bypass consumer distaste for their system.

My ISP must access the data in order to deliver a service that I have asked of and paid for. Phorm should not access my data, since I do not want or like their service, and do not wish to grant them permission to access my data. Apparently, phorm would rather people were not able to make this choice, other than by silly opt out mechanisms (that, when I last looked, still meant phorm took all the data. Just they assure us they won't use it for anything).

And of course, should this ever come online, I wouldn't be surprised if we see still more examples of technical ineptitude on the part of those charged with careful handling of our data.