[OldBear]

Hi all, first post, but long time reader of this thread. Really appreciate the work you are all doing here to try and stop this disgrace. Alexander, your paper is excellent, sir.

Originally Posted by Ravenheart

Alexander,

That reply from BT looks like it could have been written by Phorm themselves, it's interesting they throw the old Ernst & Young (who assessed it for US law) and Simon Davies into the mix. Do they not realise how things have moved on since those early days?

As usual it's just spin.

And very old spin at that, Ravenheart. I wrote to Ms. Sanderson back on March 17th about this proposed scheme. Originally she told me in her reply (18th March) that:

Webwise privacy standards have been verified by external auditor Ernst & Young, Privacy International has also carried out a Privacy Impact Assessment.

Note the bold part which she later changed in a further reply (20th March) to,

You are right that the leading privacy advocate Simon Davies, MD of 80/20 Thinking, did in fact carry out a Privacy Impact Assessment on Webwise technology. He is also the Director of Privacy International. I did not indicate that Mr Davies had endorsed the product, merely that he had carried out a Privacy Impact Assessment.

This came after I accused her of purposely trying to mislead me with information she knew was not true.

Anyway, to the old spin. Notice what she tells Alexander in her reply above and see if you can spot the similarity to what she told me, below:

No data is passed outside of BT's network and the hardware is owned by BT. Customers choosing not to take part will not have their browsing information mirrored or profiled, and no information will go to the BT managed profiler. No information is gathered, and therefore no information is forwarded to Phorm. Customers who opt out will not come into contact with any Phorm-managed equipment.

and

BT expects to begin technical trials of the BT Webwise service shortly. We will be inviting around 10,000 BT broadband customers to take part in the trial. The trial invitation will be presented through a special web page that will appear when those customers start a web browsing session. At this point, those customers invited can choose to switch on BT Webwise, choose not to take part or to find out more information. Customers choosing not to take part will not have their browsing information mirrored or profiled, and no information will go to the BT managed profiler. No information is gathered, and therefore no information is forwarded to Phorm. Customers who opt out will not come into contact with any Phorm-managed equipment. The www dot bt dot com/webwise site also contains detailed information on the service and a one-click option to switch the service off, which can be activated at any point during the trial. Alternatively customers can block the www dot webwise dot net domain. The BT Privacy Policy and BT Total Broadband Service Terms will be amended accordingly.

Yep folks, it's a straight copy and paste job.

I don't see any help coming from this woman to be honest, or from BT when they even censor their own forum to stop people asking questions.

Disgraceful!!

OB

btw. Both emails are available in full should anyone wish a copy forwarded.