Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravenheart
Dugg
The reply from the BT manager is interesting reading, and if I've read it right his answer to point 11 could open a whole new can of worms for BT
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Firstly I never stated the gender of the manager!!
But that aside, I think it needs careful reading - I THINK it means that if you opt-IN to the forthcoming 10,000 member BT trial of Webwise, and THEN block the dodgy domains, your browsing will break totally. I can see the logic of that - if you "agree" to be redirected and then block the redirection domains, of course your browsing will be broken.
But it COULD mean that even if you don't opt-in, your browser will still be broken. BT have not yet worked out a cookie free way of opting out/avoiding the system, so this trial is likely to depend on cookies. I'm not clear on that yet.
What I really want to know is what happens to an ordinary BT customer who blocks these domains while the trial is on, but who has not opted in (and has blocked the relevant cookies so doesn't have any) or who has actually opted out and kept the cookie, but blocked the redirection domains.
Remember BT are saying very little about how their trial will work, and virtually nothing about how the final system will work. I think they are running backwards fast - redesigning it as they go - as each legal pronouncement comes out from ICO or Home Office or whatever - precisely what Simon Davies of 80.20 warned about in his interim privacy report when he said it was very late in the day for a genuine PIA - in fact a PIA would not actually be possible -which is why he is calling the latest bit of work a (quote from interim privacy report) late stage implementation†PIA model that aims to satisfy most, if not all, of the criteria of a “full product cycle†PIA. (end of quote)
I don't think BT have fully realised that even the invitation to participate in the BTWebwise trial will require very careful handling to avoid it being an illegal interception of browsing traffic. If the invitation pops up while I am visting
www.bt.com, and logged into that site, or perhaps visiting my BTYahoo! ISP customer service pages at
http://home.bt.yahoo.com/, or the webmail at
http://bt.yahoo.com/webmail, as a logged in customer, it could be regarded as a legal interaction with a customer. (but not if they ask an underage child using one of my sub accounts - especially as I have notified them that they must ask me as the contract holder, and not anyone else in my family)
But if the Webwise trial invitation just pops up when I am trying to visit anywhereontheweb.com, while connected via my BT Broadband connection, then I reckon that will be an illegal interception of my browsing with a third party by my ISP.
Reading the questions and answers it is clear to me that as yet, BT don't know some of the answers that they NEED to know before starting their trial. Bear in mind that it was due to start in March, and it hasn't happened yet. I think it hasn't happened because they are still trying to sort all these sort of things out, and they know they are on dodgy ground legally and commercially with several of the details they thought they had in place but which have now been publicly questioned and found wanting.