Virgin Media Phorm Webwise Adverts [Updated: See Post No. 1, 77, 102 & 797]

[popper]

Originally Posted by none

Just for the record, its not my good work, (sadly im not that articulate) it comes courtesy of www.badphorm.co.uk and the authors name is MGP - http://www.badphorm.co.uk/download.php?list.2

So full props must go to him (or her)

hats off to MGP then, but i thought you converted it to a PDF ,so hats off to you too.

shame MrA doesnt post here anymore since he moved ISP, he would have done us proud with his massive skills, are you reading MrA, come back , funny how we havent seen any more legally trained people in any of the threads so far.

never a (specialist DPA/RIPA/UK/EU/LOADS MORE...) lawyer around when you need one ....

[Traduk]

I can really recommend looking at the link to the BBC provided by PAYNEARDO.

The replies nicely try to sidestep or confuse about who owns what and what is passed to whom regarding the profiler. No real answers though. These people must truly think we are all stupid and will be be confused by claiming who owns what and what will be passed on to where as though it means anything other than a poor attempt to confuse.

Subject to change I currently believe that the profiler which belongs to the ISP (guess they bought it) only contacts Phorm in its many guises when you allow adverts from their paid up sites. I believe that whether you opt in or out you are mirrored to the profiler and always will be but as that belongs to the ISP, Phorm washes their hands of it even though they wrote the software and will need to monitor software performance etc. Of course they need to do what has to done with the software and no more caring a way could be but to do that in real time (maybe).

The question I posed about a total by-pass (on this forum) was answered with the party line of it belongs to the ISP (furiously washing hands).

You all must read the last paragraph (BBC link) when a question was asked with legal implications. It is like a malfunctioning robot... drop interactive mode and go into script mode. So funny

BTW They have changed many of their sites around from last week and stopped serving cookies from all bar one site that I visited today. They are adopting a very very low profile which is surprising for a profiling company

[popper]

Originally Posted by PAYNEARDO

not sure if anybody else has posted this without going thru the whole thread

But anybody seen the BBC website a question and answer from phorm !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7283333.stm

yes.

go through the WHOLE thread, its full of interesting related stuff and probably the only one that covers a lot of other sites comments etc.

and its growing by the day, as many of those other sites users seem to be joining here as we place links all over the place referencing the good stuff.

[mertle]

Originally Posted by mainlime

PHPSESSID is the default cookie for maintaining session state in a PHP web application. It has precisely nothing to do with Phorm.

I think we're on a wild goose chase here.

yep thanks found this about it. although there hacking of this file which they can get remote control.

http://www.captain.at/howto-php-sessions.php

[none]

Originally Posted by popper

but i thought you converted it to a PDF ,so hats off to you too.

I did, and ty

Originally Posted by popper

yes.

go through the WHOLE thread, its full of interesting related stuff and probably the only one that covers a lot of other sites comments etc.

and its growing by the day, as many of those other sites users seem to be joining here as we place links all over the place referencing the good stuff.

Yup, it biggest running debate over phorm to be found anywhere, with all the juicy bits from other blogs/sites thrown in for good measure

This thread is certainly one of the first links I give to people now when discussing phorm.

[mainlime]

Originally Posted by mertle

yep thanks found this about it. although there hacking of this file which they can get remote control.

http://www.captain.at/howto-php-sessions.php

I don't wish to be rude mertle but I don't think you know what you are talking about. The article you linked to is about the maintenance of session state in a web application and specifically adjusting the garbage collection interval on the server so that a browser session is not lost if the default garbage collection interval has passed before the session cookie has expired. This has absolutely nothing to do with Phorm. You are chasing shadows.

Perhaps a refresher on cookies and session state would be in order : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

[Shin Gouki]

Originally Posted by Kursk

Anyone experiencing any delays in browsing of late?

Lot's of people up and down the country, including me have had trouble browsing for about 2 weeks now.

This has NEVER happened to me before (Ive been a customer for 4 years, EX Telewest) but it's happenig all the time now.

[popper]

Originally Posted by bigbadcol

And thats a bad thing why?

Some years ago I was getting sales calls from the Indian call center of my bank, usually after 9pm. I asked several times for them to stop calling me, and was ignored.

Once I had issued a DPA notice not only did it stop, when I call CS and reach the usual offshore call center they quicky transfer me back to the UK.

By issuing the notice you do 2 things - Protect your personal data, and send a message to VM that you take your privacy rights seriously.

notice how i DIDNT say 'not a good idea' on that part LOL.

its up to each person to decide that, as it may stop the offshore CCare etc, and so force it back to the UK.

but it might also make some so called jobswerth employee inside the ISP or whatever trying to kick you as they take it personally and dont understand the DPA act , then you need to go to the trouble of getting the courts involved etc.

[mertle]

Originally Posted by lucevans

I think the paranoia is starting to take over... maybe it's time to switch off the PC and go for a walk...
Does anyone have a tinfoil hat smiley we could add to the list?

thats so true but it was bit of shock to see my phorm buster getting active.



I think its a good thing to monitor though at some point we will find them be able to help block them. One thing PHORM done is made me 400% more vigilant. I seriously more aware of the junk put in my tempory internet folder.

[popper]

Originally Posted by lucevans

I think the paranoia is starting to take over... maybe it's time to switch off the PC and go for a walk...
Does anyone have a tinfoil hat smiley we could add to the list?

" http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

An Effective, Low-Cost Solution To Combating Mind-Control

"

seems to give you all the info you might want, but no smiley.

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=4182&page=2
a user there gives you this but im not sure its suitable as they obviously have the directional Wifi extension and we dont know if it tunes to the wireless community Phorm Mesh network

http://search.virginmedia.com/result...hat+smiley+&cr=

[none]

Originally Posted by lucevans

I think the paranoia is starting to take over... maybe it's time to switch off the PC and go for a walk...
Does anyone have a tinfoil hat smiley we could add to the list?

An interesting post here would also suggest that VM have not gone live with phorm just yet - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...=759341&page=2

Originally Posted by knet2020

I have been taking a look at thecode behind some of the BT pages for webwise as they seem to be the most advanced in terms of making it available...

The current javascript code can be found at BT (clicking this link will NOT switch on Phorm etc it will simply show as text in your browser)

http://webwise.bt.com/includes/consu...ise/webwise.js

The current implementation sets a 2 year cookie as mentioned based on the hostname of the user, it's currently got 'checks' for the 3 ISP's and a 'TEST BLOCK' which checks for a domain 'thelathe.com' any users from this domain are assigned a 'Test User' cookie

all others are identified as BT, Virgin and TalkTalk (the good news for some VM users is that there is currently NO check for NTL or Blueyonder hosts but I imagine that would change. As mentioned by Pete aka Dephormation the current code opts you IN

function setBTWebwiseStatus(stat) {

    setww = document.getElementById('setwebwise');
    

    if (stat) {
        setww.src = "http://webwise.net/webwise_status/setwebwise.php?opt=in";
        setTimeout('setww.src = "http://a.webwise.net/services/OO?op=in"', 1000);
        
    }
    else {
        setww.src = "http://webwise.net/webwise_status/setwebwise.php?opt=out";
        setTimeout('setww.src = "http://a.webwise.net/services/OO?op=out"', 1000);
    }

    setTimeout('document.location.href="/index.html"', 2000);
    return false;
/*
    if (stat) {
        createCookie(btwwCookieName, btwwCookieValue, 10);
    }
    else {
        eraseCookie(btwwCookieName);
    }

    window.history.go(-1);
    return false;
*/
}

Note the URL in the function above is not on SSL
Code:

<p>
<a href="#" onclick="return setBTWebwiseStatus(true);">
Switch BT Webwise ON
</a>
  | 
<a href="#" onclick="return setBTWebwiseStatus(false);">
Keep BT Webwise OFF for Now
</a>
</p>

read the rest here - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...=759341&page=2

[Tezcatlipoca]

May well have already been mentioned, but has anyone else had a look at webwise.com, & found some bits as laughable as I do?

Originally Posted by webwise.com

Webwise is provided by major Internet Service Providers in response to consumers’ growing concerns and frustrations with the Internet. Webwise can help protect you from fraudulent “phishing” websites that may put your financial and personal data at risk. It also helps reduce the number of irrelevant, untargeted ads you see.

Webwise was built with consumer protection in mind.

See how they lead with "in response to consumers’ growing concerns and frustrations with the Internet" and then "Webwise can help protect you from fraudulent “phishing” websites that may put your financial and personal data at risk", before finally mentioning, in a kind of "oh, by the way..." that "It also helps reduce the number of irrelevant, untargeted ads you see.".

When surely the primary purpose of it is MONEY for Phorm & the ISPs, with this whole phishing thing just some sugar-coating, to make it look like there's a real benefit for the customers.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by popper

So full props must go to him (or her) hats off to MGP then, but i thought you converted it to a PDF ,so hats off to you too.

For the record that letter was in fact first posted on Cable Forum. After a couple of tweaks it was then posted to Badphorm. I'm more than happy that it has been widely re-used others.

I've actually had a reply, and when I get to a scanner, I will post it.

[davidb24v]

Well I haven't posted much on here and only checked the forums today to see if there was any more gossip on 50Mb

I've asked the on-line providers of credit cards and banking I use how they feel about the potential man-in-the-middle attack opportunity that this "Phorm" nonsense represents, given that one of the people at the helm of the company involved is a known spyware author. We'll see

Hopefully, me pointing out that I don't feel I can trust a "session key" when the login page contents are easily obtainable via a potential (inevitable?) man-in-the-middle attack might help. However, I suspect they'll tell me to make sure I have all the latest updates/service packs etc. installed and to reboot my computer if I have any concerns though

Back to paper cheque thingies and queuing up for me I fear

Dave

[popper]

"For the record that letter was in fact first posted on Cable Forum....
...I've actually had a reply, and when I get to a scanner, I will post it."

good on you Rob, well done 0=]:-)

i dont know how i missed that http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34492295-post128.html

not been reading/helping on the site as often as i used to as you might guess looking at the almost unread 'in the news' and other threads i used to try and keep up to date...

http://www.cafepress.com/raven1/522681