[AlexanderHanff]

OK folks I am back. Been up for about 40 hours straight now so bare with me. We hit heavy fog on the M1/M6 on the way back (most of the way) so the drive home was painfully slow.

With regards filming of the meeting.

Channel 4 were there and filming, they approached me after the meeting as unfortunately they had not been there for my "speech" (I think they were interviewing someone in the hallway outside), so it is unlikely I will be in the C4 coverage.

However, there was a 2 camera professional setup with separate audio which will be appearing online unedited (the sound will be unedited, the video will be edited with regards to the 2 camera's having different angles, the final piece will be seamless with the audio). Obviously this might take a couple of days to get online given the work involved.

Before I go any further, I want to give a very special mention to one gentleman, a regular member of the public, who took the time and effort to attend. I don't know who he was, or where he was from, but if he was someone from this forum please do make yourself known. His words and reaction, I think were the most important of the entire meeting. He spoke after I finished supporting me as a member of the public and started out strong and bold but as he spoke it was clear that he was genuinely upset, I was incredibly moved by this and tried to find him after the meeting but unfortunately couldn't.

I missed a few points I wanted to raise and for that I apologise, I arrived late so didn't have a chance to get a glass of water, my throat was dry and I won't deny that the experience was a little overwhelming. In my defence though, I had very little time to prepare my speech as I wasn't asked to give it until 4:30am yesterday morning but I do think I made some important points.

I hope people are not disappointed that I didn't raise the legal issues of the 2006/2007 trials; it was obvious that it would have just been a waste of time (and there wasn't enough time as it was we ended up almost being kicked out of the lecture hall for over-running) as BT carried out the trials so it was never expected that Phorm would answer any question directly related to this. So I tried to go back to basics and talked about ECHR and why it came into existence in the first place. I talked about turning people into products and the global warehouse pieces of us are planned to be sold in. I also mentioned how people feel insulted that Phorm feel they have the right to profile them. I emphasised that fundamental human rights cannot be overturned by implied consent and that the general public (in my eyes) don't care that the data is anonymous they simply do not want this technology invading their privacy in any way. I also expressed my concern over Phorm refusing to provide a user-agent for content owners to include in robot.txt and in my conclusion stated that Phorm -must- provide a user agent. I also discussed trust and how there simply wasn't any for Phorm or BT as result of the actions and revelations of the past 2 months.

At the end of the speeches/presentations and the Q&A with the panel, we were all given the opportunity to sum up our thoughts in 30 seconds; what I said for my summary is a bit of a blur now but I think you will appreciate it once the video is released, I believe I closed by stating something along the lines of this being the most intrusive activity to privacy ever.

After the meeting it was very busy, I was approached by several academics, experts and members of the press. I spent considerable time talking to a prestige crowd at the after event "gathering" including Dr Richard Clayton, Gus and Simon from 80/20T, a senior legal representative from Orange (who's name currently escapes me due to my fatigue but I have it in my notes and will rectify this issue later today), people from Cambridge Uni, ORG, British Computer Society and many others.

The chap from Orange was very interesting and confirmed that Orange were not interested in deploying Phorm's technology until they could devise a true opt in solution (with real consent not some buried terms) at the authentication level. His thoughts were it might be possible to put Phorm opt-ins onto a separate IP block so that only that block of IPs went anywhere near Phorm's kit. He basically got the point and his views echoed many of the issues and concerns expressed over the past few months. I have to say it was an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to talk to him.

Now, let me just get one thing clear before I go any further with regards the attacks on 80/20T and in particular Simon Davies. I was very proud and honoured to be invited to speak at the meeting (by Simon without even consulting Phorm in advance). Simon and I were in discussions via PM on this forum and email until approx 6am yesterday morning and not only was he very honest and sincere, he was even kind enough to offer me some advice and moral support which I will now quote as I am sure he won't mind:

"I would say that you're strength is your passion. You are carrying the
rights perspective. That's powerful. We need to hear that case put clearly
and unequivocally. Be measured, empirical and assertive - but I'm sure you
are all those things!"

This was in a personal email so I normally wouldn't disclose such information but I think it is important to end this unjustified attack some people have made on Simon.

When I arrived at the meeting and introduced myself to him, the man hugged me and I am far from ashamed to disclose that (he also hugged me at the gathering later in the evening.) He is an incredible man and when you meet him face to face, his passion for his work as a privacy advocate is very clear and very humbling and some of the things people have said have actually been very hurtful to him and upsetting.

Tonight I met some of the most inspiring and decent people I am ever likely to meet in my lifetime, Simon and Richard in particular and words can't describe that experience. I was treated with the utmost respect by everyone who spoke to me (well almost, there was one gentleman who approached me immediately after the meeting who clearly wasn't happy with me being the "voice of the public" claiming that the people I represent were a small group of complainers, he even suggested only 250 people had signed the petition on the PM website. I never saw him again after this but needless to say I refuted all his arguments) and I am very thankful of that.

I left the gathering around 11:30 and got home shortly before 5am.

Final thoughts? The meeting didn't really discuss anything new but it was important given that is enabled and initiate dialogue in an open forum. It was not a PR event (however much Kent might have wanted it to be) I only saw one supporter of Phorm in the audience who attempted to heckle Richard on a couple of occasions and was well despatched by the same. In reality, the questions coming from the audience were more a reflection of the issues raised from our side of the fence and the audience made it clear that they were not even remotely happy with Kent's answers or opinions on law and the wider issue as a whole; so I respectfully suggest some people have some humble pie to eat and some apologies to issue to Simon Davies.

The PIA will be ready at the end of the month, but in a discussion with Simon later it was made clear that a solution with regards to opting in was a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

It was a great night, one I will never forget, I am only sorry that I never managed to meet more of the forum members who turned up, I wish they had made themselves known to me.

With regards all this talk of donations, there really is no need. However, if people really do want to make donations, I will use them to buy some books I need for my Masters and the offers are very much appreciated.

Now I need some sleep, but I will be back later to answer any questions and of course continue where we left off yesterday; in our fight against this technology, my dissertation and the fight to hold BT accountable for the illegal trials in 2006/2007.

Good night, thanks to everyone for their kind words and keep up the good fight, it really does seem to be making a difference.

Alexander Hanff