BT & Phorm privacy intrusion


	BT Intrusion & PHORM
	GOOD NEWS.................just when it looked like Phorm had won the day, common sense seems to have prevailed................the EU have started legal proceedings against the UK government for breach of the EU Data Protection Directive and called on the UK to "change their national laws! And whats more the likes of BT , Talk Talk, Virgin Media, to name a few, who had previously expressed interest in the concept have to all intents and purposes pulled out!!!! If you have been following this as I know some of you had been, this is good news against thoses associations (who have/had with apparent UK government blessing) developed a concept that intrudes into the privacy of others (under the guise of advertising or some other misleading manner) not only on the www but in the course of every day living.!!! Perhaps over time we may see something even more positive come out of this, however one cannot rest on there laurals, so whilst this subject (albeit off topic to the website) will ultimately be sent to the Northall archives (end of August 2009) the phorm footnote will remain as a reminder..........just in case! At least for now, I can feel assured that the Northallcpc website will not be intercepted for ulteria motives! In the meantime you can find the latest information about the demise of the Phorm concept in Britain and of BT buckling under peer, media and legal pressure by withdrawing from Phorm:- PC PRO_trials-were-bad-phorm.html http://www.iterasi.net/ UPDATED: 3rd August 2009: LH
	Previously about PHORM......read on
	BT intrusion and spying on its customers through PHORM??? Please read on especially if you are with BT
	ARE YOU A BT INTERNET SUBSCRIBER?.........The chances are that if you are a BT subscriber for your internet connection then you are almost likely (or likely to be) participating (perhaps unwittingly) in BT's association with a company called PHORM. This company through your BT connection will track every move you make on the internet......that is all the websites that you visit when surfing!
	WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL THEN?..............well....in tracking where you go on the internet they (BT/Phorm aka Webwise) will store and collate this information for advertising puposes and directed it at/to you. There is nothing you can actually do on your computer that can stop this as all this information is tracked and stored via your ISP (Internet Service Provider), so if you are with BT then this will happen. BT have already made it clear that they will be implementing this intrusion into your privacy as a matter of course!

	BT have responded by saying that they are providing a security service against malware and spying although in effect they are doing it themselves and more! They have already done secret trials with many of its customers and got spotted........hence the high awareness now. You can find out much more about this intrusive operation by BT by entering PHORM into Google or any other search engine or you visit some of the following informative sites on the subject:


	http://www.channel4.com/news/articles http://www.theregister.co.uk/phorm_evidence http:/www./technology.timesonline.co.uk https://www.dephormation.org.uk
	Latest Links on information about Phorm @ April 2009 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/berners-lee-phorm-is-like-a-tv-camera-in-your-room.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/berners-lee-internet-data http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/now-parliament-promises-to-poke-into-phorm.html?

	SO HOW WILL YOU KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN PHORMED.......... initially it shows itself to you by directing you (a BTinternet subscriber) to another location away from where you intended to go. At this location you are most likely to be coerced / forced into accepting (Opt-in) advertisements wherever you go on the internet???? If you accept, it is expected you will then find yourself with advertising being shown on any future websites that you visit, these adverts would not have been initiated by the webmasters of that site, but by PHORM. Worse still if you dont agree and manage to opt out of any agreement, all you movements will still be tracked and stored by your BT isp hence the 'big brother watch. The only sure way of not getting snarled up in this future nasty piece of spying is to leave your BT internet provider and go elsewhere. There are plenty of providers out there who do not participate and if you are stuck for an alternative, then I can give you directions where to look......... Of course it is also possible that you may have a computer infection that may show similar symptons so you may want to get your computer checked out? Please note it has not been confirmed that Phorm has gone live, although it is expected to go live at some stage this year (2009)

	PHORM IMPACTS........... primarily on you and on all websites and all webmasters......so if you are currently with BT and continue to use them for providing your internet connections, then you will be permitting the following to happen: a) Permitting them to direct you as a visitor away from the site you are visiting for the purposes of: i) Intruding on your privacy. ii) Tracking every move on the internet that you make and maintaining a permenent record of it! iii) Permitting them to download / stream on your computer(s) for advertising purposes pertinant to where you have been (whether relevant or otherwise). iv) Using your computer activities for the purposes of 'big brother surveillance' at a glance, which is an infringment of your civil liberties. In addition b) All websites / webmasters like myself will be disadvantaged because:- i) There would be an infringment on the copyrights of websites. ii) They would be illegally taking visitors away from websites 'apart from impinging on your freedom of surfing the internet' for the purposes of obtaining monetary gains to your participating Interent Service Provider (in this case BT) and Phorm itself? iii) They would be exploiting all websites for the purposes of advertising appropriate to BT subscribers, by placing adverts superficially on the actual website (in effect defacing the website illegally) you visit without the webmaster having given permission or knowing about it or being given any form of compensation! There action contravenes copyright matters and website database protection! There is currently much dissatifaction at the way BT are paving the way to bulldoze this through, and if it succeeds we can all expect our internet surfing to change dramatically for the worse and then every other ISP will be pressured into following suit. Of course you have a choice as a BT internet subscriber to stay and accept the intrusion or do something about it........just ask youself do you really want all this intrusion which will evolve and inevitably get worse. You can always chat further on this when I am at Northall or you can email me at webmaster@northcpc.co.uk. Check out the above links on the subject first. PS> So far only BT customers are affected however it also appears that Talk Talk,Virgin Media are keen....... with rumours of Tiscali watching ......dependant on whether BT succeed?? You can join in the Downing Street partition to stop this here....... (deadline now finished @Apl 2009)