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Old 13-03-2008, 11:09   #1154
dav
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 399
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Re: Virgin Media Phorm Webwise Adverts [Updated: See Post No. 1, 77, 102 & 797]

Quote:
Originally Posted by PhormUKPRteam View Post
Hi Dav / Lucevans

We agree - users have a hard time trusting organisations with personal data. But there is zero chance that we could use or release a user's personal data, because we store zero personal data. While there is some skepticism on the forums, that's mainly because people are still in the mind-set that you can only target ads with personal data just as everyday ad cookies do. We've broken the link between targeting and personal information so we're quite pleased to see people debating online privacy. In addition, as previously stated there is the E&Y oversight and that of the ISPs themselves - accountability and transparency are critical to Webwise and how it works.
Thanks for the reply, but you really do have the wrong end of the stick.

I, for one, think I understand the system quite well. It may come as a shock, but I have nothing against Webwise as a system for people who want to use it via an explicit opt-in which routes their traffic through the webwise system, leaving all other traffic untouched in any way. It is their browsing data that only they can choose to send to you.

The issue here is that Webwise can have access to all personal data (IP addresses, names, postal details etc), before it even reaches the extraction part and "anonymiser". THAT is what I have a huge, angry reaction to.

This is clearly stated in the patent and I firmly believe that the human condition means that if something can be done, it will be done, irrespective of whether it should or shouldn't be done. The Manhattan Project started after a bunch of nuclear physicists postulated that it would be possible to start a nuclear fission reaction and get huge returns in the form of released energy. They were elated when their tests proved successful. The inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, less so. The point is, once the genie is out of the bottle...
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