http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34501465-post603.html
Re RIPA and Data Protection Act
The DPA regulates the processing of personal data (as defined in the Act). As outlined above Phorm's technology is designed in such a way that it does not collect or store any information from which it is possible to identify an individual. Because we at Phorm treat Data Protection issues with the highest degree of importance, our ISPs, in conjunction with us, will obtain the consent of their users to the Phorm service and users are free to withdraw that consent and opt out of the service at any time. RIPA is intended to protect the privacy of private communications. As outlined above, the Phorm service respects users' privacy at all times by ensuring that users remain anonymous and by obtaining the user's consent to the service via our ISPs. We have considered RIPA with great care and are satisfied that our technology does not breach RIPA. We welcome ideas on ongoing oversight.
OIX has been built with the highest standards of consumer privacy protection in mind which has been verified by Ernst & Young and the world's foremost privacy advocate, Simon Davies of Privacy International. In addition, our 3 ISP partners have done their own detailed due diligence and are entirely satisfied that this poses no threat whatsoever to their customers or their personal data.
Re: prior companies
Some time ago, Kent did have an adware company called PeopleOnPage. This was not spyware, and the distinction between the two is very important. Adware is a software component designed to deliver ads as part of a legitimate commercial product or service.
Spyware or Malware has four essential features:
1. It is installed on a user's computer without their knowledge or
consent
2. It is hidden so that the user cannot find it
3. It is designed to be difficult or impossible for the user to remove
4. Does some harm (often illegal) to the user or their computer: in the
case of spyware, stealing information (particularly passwords, credit card details etc.)
Spyware/Malware is surreptitiously installed, is hidden, cannot be removed and does intentional harm, e.g. stealing data.
The PeopleOnPage program, in contrast:
1. Was installed as part of a download process in which the user had to
read and confirm acceptance of an End User Licence Agreement (EULA). In the EULA, the user had to explicitly accept that in return for the free software, they would be shown advertising.
2. Was clearly displayed in the user¹s Add/Remove programs listing.
3. Was removable by using the standard Add/Remove program dialogue.
4. Was designed to legally show targeted advertising to users, based on
their browsing behaviour as part of a commercial relationship with software providers and advertisers, and with the consent and knowledge of the user.
PeopleOnPage was installed with knowledge and consent, could be identified and deleted, and was not intended to cause harm or steal information.
POP was gradually phased out by Kent due to his changing the direction of the Company which culminated in Phorm and the creation of OIX. OIX has been built with the highest standards of consumer privacy protection in mind which has been verified by Ernst & Young and the world's foremost privacy advocate, Simon Davies of Privacy International. In addition, our 3 ISP partners have done their own detailed due diligence and are entirely satisfied that this poses no threat whatsoever to their customers or their personal data.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34501469-post604.html
When you opt out, your browsing information is not passed to Phorm, and as a result, you won't see any targeted ads. If you opt out, none of your data will pass through a Phorm-owned server.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34501475-post606.html
When you opt out, your browsing information is not passed to Phorm, and as a result, you won't see any targeted ads. If you opt out, none of your data will pass through a Phorm-owned server. Your browsing behaviour will not be sent to Phorm if you opt out. If you are looking for an opt-out mechanism that doesn't rely on the presence of a cookie, you can set your browser (Firefox, IE and Opera) to block cookies from our ad-serving domain, webwise.net.