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They're trying to buy themselves credibility,

My email to APWG,

APWG,

I would like to express my concern on your recent announcement that Phorm Inc. have been allowed to join the APWG.
This company has a known history (previously 121media) of using rootkit technology to deploy adware, I would therefore ask you reconsider allowing them membership to your association..

Your membership eligibility states. Quote;
“Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs, the law enforcement community, security solutions providers and research institutions”

I don’t see where Phorm Inc. falls into any of these categories.

The bottom line to this announcement is it undermines the association’s credibility in the public eye. There is currently a very active online community of people who object to Phorm’s use of deep packet inspection technology to intercept data and profile them based on browsing habits.

It is yet to be proved that what Phorm are proposing to do is even legal under several acts including privacy and DPA.

I urge you to further investigate this company and its history, to make an informed decision rather than a financial one, and to see beyond Phorm’s PR spin.

Regards,

As OF1975 said;

"Anti-Phishing Working Group withdraws Phorm Membership"

That would be a nice concrete achievement if we could make it happen and would help to increase publicity and would be one more nail in the coffin.