Quote:
Originally Posted by tdadyslexia
I have recreated the BT Webwise interstitial page Here.
It is easier to read, and easier to print out.  |
Useful thanks tdadyslexia.
Fwiw I just wrote to BT legal department:
Dear Mr BlackedOutName
As part of some documents released under a FOI request by the ICO that are on public view at various websites I have been looking at the proposed interstitial page that BT says will pop up when the trial begins.
There are several important issues here:
1. This page could pop up when anyone is using any of the computers on the home LAN here – my wife, my children, a visitor – and if I, the account holder, am not at home to be consulted there is nothing to stop one of these third parties from clicking on the Switch On button, in the ill-informed mistaken belief that BTWebwise is merely a benign anti-phishing application that also helps reduce unnecessary advertising. There is nothing on the page that warns the viewer that data will be processed and that browsing will be redirected. There is nothing that explains clearly how the cookies will operate. The page is unclear about whether any data will be processed even in the event of clicking No. There is nothing to say what will happen if the page is simply switched off – an option that many users will opt for if they do not understand it, can’t be bothered with it because they regard it as an unsolicited time-wasting nuisance and simply wish to get on with their intended internet use, like I know my wife would do. I am the account holder and am very alarmed that BT is proposing to launch a service that can so easily permit a third party to alter my contract with BT without my knowledge and permission. For a company that claims to take security seriously, this is abysmal. In this respect alone the product is not fit for purpose.
2. The page appears to be a blatant breach of the new regulations regarding Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading;
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus.../oft931int.pdf
BT must ensure that the main characteristics of the product are clear – benefits of the product, risks of the product, and especially the motives of the commercial practice. It is obvious that BT’s real motive behind BTWebwise is to collect revenue from selling BT customers’ browsing habits to phorm. The promise of anti-phishing technology and better-suited advertising is a smoke-screen. This is a blatant Misleading Omission that can’t be justified by hiding it away in the small print of the T&Cs, if that is BT’s intention. BT must inform customers more comprehensively than this if it is to demonstrate that due diligence that it keeps trumpeting.
3. The casual reference to cookies is irresponsible because it assumes a sophisticated depth of computer knowledge that most customers do not possess. I have just asked all my family what they understand by cookies – they don’t know and they are not interested. They just wish to go straight to a website in the interests of business or pleasure, and that is the duty of BT, my current ISP. I spend much time trying to secure our computer systems against malignant and undesirable software products. I don’t want BT telling third parties they need BTWebwise, planting cookies on my systems and interfering with my security measures without my knowledge.
gnilddif