I have been having a quick dig and it seems that Kent Ertugrul who is CEO of Phorm was involved with companies that pushed root-kit & spyware on to unsuspecting users.
LINK
It seems to me that there is a lot more behind this "structured targeted ads" than meets the eye.
Maybe it would be an idea if we could get his address (email or snail) and bombard him with letters of complaint about the intrusion into our private surfing habits. Which after all are just that private. Why do browser software developers make programs that allow us to virtually browse the net without fear of ads and tracking? Because they understand privacy. VM for all their faults have gone one step to far and all subscribers should be given the choice to opt-in, or if they do make it that you are already opted-in then there should be clear and sufficent links, email-shots etc that shows just how to opt-out and that once opted out no information should be shared by VM and third parties due to the data protection act.