[socnsum1]

Earlier on this week I emailed Virgin Media Customer Services and asked if PC Guard software that they supply would detect spyware such as Phorm, Webwise and OIX. This is the reply that I got from one of their agents on Friday 2 May 2008.

Hi
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Thanks for getting in touch with the Virgin Media Support team.

Virgin Media has signed a preliminary agreement with Phorm to understand
in more detail how this technology works but we have not yet decided if
it will be introduced. Webwise is a technically complex application
which could be implemented in a number of different ways and it will be
some months before we can confirm if the service will be made available
to our customers and if so, how and when it would be deployed. Customer
concerns around privacy and data protection are (and will remain) an
important element of this preliminary evalaution and we will not roll
out Webwise unless we are completely satisifed that in our view it
complies with applicable data protection and privacy regulations.

It may be that, as part of the evaluation process, we want to test the
technology among some of our customers but we are not currently doing so
and we will not conduct any such tests without individual customers'
prior consent. Moreover, should Virgin Media eventually decide to roll
out Webwise, customers will not be forced to use the system.

In the meantime, we'll continue to communicate our intentions openly and
transparently. If we go ahead with deployment, we will let all our
customers know before rolling out the Webwise solution and will clearly
explain how the system works and what it means for them.

If there's anything else we can help with, please let us know.

Kind regards,
***** ********
Econtact Support Team
Virgin Media
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