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

It's a little unclear what he is saying in the line "That's why the Information Commissioner's Office has been looking at these proposals and that it is compliant with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.". There seems to be a word missing between "proposals and" and "that it is".

He may mean "and is satisfied that" or he could mean "and will ensure that" - two very different statements as one implis that it is case closed.

Other than that it is good to get a response like this and to have someone of Darling's stature taking the time to reply. Well done you.

[Rchivist]

Originally Posted by 3x2

I keep seeing this quoted in various stories and it's beginning to annoy me. Is this the standard by which policy is being made by senior figures in government and elsewhere? Looking at a postcard only requires opportunity and the ability to read. Viewing my net activity requires deliberate interception by skilled people using expensive network kit. If my net activity is being routinely intercepted and "looked at" who exactly is doing it and under what authority?

Why am I reminded of "Senator tubes" over in the US when I read this sort of comment from a senior figure?

Lord West hasn't been REphormed yet. Patience!!

[davethejag]

Hi,

"Deep-packet inspection can be a useful tool for network management, said David Farber, a computer science and public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon. "What's almost obscene is the fact that people are using it to gather information about what I'm sending on the network and selling that information to other people," Farber said. "That is completely obscene and should be stopped."

Taken from here -


http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...c=netflash-rss

and this -

"During some highly contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, it seems to have come as a shock and surprise to the executives at NebuAd that people might have a problem with having their Internet connection spied upon for advertising purposes.

Taken from here -

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/sec...ike+Spying.htm

Dave.

and just seen this ref. the BT/Tiscali row -

"Some privacy experts have questioned how BT got hold of customer details but BT insisted that it used "reputable external sources".

From here -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7519625.stm

[Privacy_Matters]

Originally Posted by tarka

I didn't think the ICO had anything to do with RIPA?

I believe that BERR may have some responsibilty, the extent of which I am waiting for confirmation for.

[Florence]

I have a letter back from my MP he apologised for the late reply then I was shocked to read further. He has been unable to trace any information on the specific concerns I mentioned... He asked me for further information..

Well I know I mentionied phorm, webwise, BT stealth trials 2006/7, interception forged cookies and suppose I now need to sit down and rethink this and try to find a way to give him all the information he needs without his need to research...

[Rchivist]

Originally Posted by Florence

I have a letter back from my MP he apologised for the late reply then I was shocked to read further. He has been unable to trace any information on the specific concerns I mentioned... He asked me for further information..

Well I know I mentionied phorm, webwise, BT stealth trials 2006/7, interception forged cookies and suppose I now need to sit down and rethink this and try to find a way to give him all the information he needs without his need to research...

Well - why not post your shopping list here, and I'm sure the rest of us can fill your (non disposable) carrier bag with urls and pdf files?
After all that's what we're here for.
And if you are REphorming your MP it is worth the effort.

[BadPhormula]

Originally Posted by phormwatch

Can someone please explain what Roman Gaufman did when he worked at 121Media and what he wrote for BT Retail?

Is the BT Retail connection about the Javascript web injections?

---------- Post added at 21:24 ---------- Previous post was at 21:13 ----------

What is Roman's connection with Stratis?

"What is Roman's connection with Stratis?"

Roman Gaufman is(was) a covert 121Media/Phorm operator who was instructed to insert various pieces of spying apparatus into the BT network. We suspect (and this has now been confirmed by anonymous BT employees [and Ex-BT]) due to the secretive nature of the spying-on-customers project only a handful of BT employees at the management and technical levels knew about this malicious surveillance scheme.

Stratis Scleparis (was) the CTO of BT Retail and is responsible for the overseeing of technical development and continued operations of the BT network, and any significant changes or additions to the BT Retail network are his responsibility as CTO. Stratis Scleparis very close secretive involvment with 121Media/Phorm is now obvious, evident by his sideways shift from CTO for BT Retail to CTO of Phorm long before the WebLies system became public. This could be seen as a career opportunity for making money, for the smooth transition and eventual wholesale insertion of the Phorm Intra-ISP 'webwise' spying network and inline Rootkits.

Given the personal importance of the spying-on-customers project to Stratis Scleparis and given the very secretive covert nature of the trials and insertion of equipment without the knowledge of senior BT engineers (as confirmed by anonymous BT technical staff) we can draw the conclusion that Stratis Scleparis and Roman Gaufman were infact in close personal contact for the duration of the installation and running of the covert trials. (see leaked BT whistleblower documents regarding installation/performance/operation of the spying network to draw further conclusions regarding Stratis Scleparis and Roman Gaufman close personal relationship).


I'll add more information to the badphorm.co.uk site as a lookup resource, which can be edited and kept current.

http://www.badphorm.co.uk/e107_plugi...topic.php?7629

[Dephormation]

Originally Posted by Privacy_Matters

I believe that BERR may have some responsibilty, the extent of which I am waiting for confirmation for.

BERR have an outfit called the "Companies Investigation Branch" who are supposed to investigate allegations of serious corporate misconduct.

But I haven't seen anything to indicate they are investigating BT. Sadly.

"Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) is part of the regulatory arm of the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR). Prior to the creation of BERR, it was part of the Department of Trade & Industry.

Although CIB is located within the Insolvency Service, an Executive Agency of BERR, it is not limited to companies that have become insolvent. In fact, most of its investigations are into companies that are actively trading. Please see our “Frequently Asked Questions” for details of what we can and cannot investigate."

[Portly_Giraffe]

Originally Posted by Florence

I have a letter back from my MP he apologised for the late reply then I was shocked to read further. He has been unable to trace any information on the specific concerns I mentioned... He asked me for further information..

Well I know I mentionied phorm, webwise, BT stealth trials 2006/7, interception forged cookies and suppose I now need to sit down and rethink this and try to find a way to give him all the information he needs without his need to research...

Start him off with this flyer:
http://www.inphormationdesk.org/Phorm_Flyer_MP.pdf

[Rchivist]

Originally Posted by davethejag

Hi,

snip

and this -

"During some highly contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, it seems to have come as a shock and surprise to the executives at NebuAd that people might have a problem with having their Internet connection spied upon for advertising purposes.

Taken from here -

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/sec...ike+Spying.htm

Dave.

that itmanagement earthweb article was fascinating - sort of blows a hole out of Kent Ertugruls arguments about how the public will welcome Webwise/Phorm, and digs an even deeper hole under BT's "Premium Browsing:Research Findings" (the survey that dare not speak its name) and their claims that BT customers really want Phorm/Webwise.

It would be a good article to copy to disk, and quote from/refer to.

[oblonsky]

Originally Posted by R Jones

that itmanagement earthweb article was fascinating - sort of blows a hole out of Kent Ertugruls arguments about how the public will welcome Webwise/Phorm, and digs an even deeper hole under BT's "Premium Browsing:Research Findings" (the survey that dare not speak its name) and their claims that BT customers really want Phorm/Webwise.

It would be a good article to copy to disk, and quote from/refer to.

Do you or does anyone here actually know what's in the Premium Browsing:Research Findings?

Also re: hackeron don't you think he may just be some guy caught up in all this? He was only doing his job, after all. I don't think it's fair to drag people into this unless they have entered the debate themselves.

[Florence]

Originally Posted by R Jones

Well - why not post your shopping list here, and I'm sure the rest of us can fill your (non disposable) carrier bag with urls and pdf files?
After all that's what we're here for.
And if you are REphorming your MP it is worth the effort.

Sad to say my MP is labour so presume the inability to research is a fault within Labour MPs. I will rise to the challenge to rephorm him back to a human being with understanding of morals, privacy and acceptable invaision plus unacceptable invaison of privacy...

Printed of the pdf to go in my next letter was thinking of getting ther ICO stuff but sadly a reformat lost me my emails from Watkin..

[Rchivist]

Originally Posted by oblonsky

Do you or does anyone here actually know what's in the Premium Browsing:Research Findings?

Also re: hackeron don't you think he may just be some guy caught up in all this? He was only doing his job, after all. I don't think it's fair to drag people into this unless they have entered the debate themselves.

No - I don't know - I'm just guessing - the name pops up in the leaked BT trials document and I have just been floating it every now and then in the hope that a copy might drift out of a BT office window.

---------- Post added at 19:12 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------

Originally Posted by Florence

Sad to say my MP is labour so presume the inability to research is a fault within Labour MPs. I will rise to the challenge to rephorm him back to a human being with understanding of morals, privacy and acceptable invaision plus unacceptable invaison of privacy...

Printed of the pdf to go in my next letter was thinking of getting ther ICO stuff but sadly a reformat lost me my emails from Watkin..

If it is the FOI stuff here are the links
http://dephormation.org.uk/?page=12

If it is the cryptome stuff
http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.htm

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by 3x2

I keep seeing this quoted in various stories and it's beginning to annoy me. Is this the standard by which policy is being made by senior figures in government and elsewhere? Looking at a postcard only requires opportunity and the ability to read. Viewing my net activity requires deliberate interception by skilled people using expensive network kit. If my net activity is being routinely intercepted and "looked at" who exactly is doing it and under what authority?

Why am I reminded of "Senator tubes" over in the US when I read this sort of comment from a senior figure?

I interpret that differently. He is trying to say that if you write a postcard you know people can read it. Using the internet these days is like sending a postcard as far as privacy goes.
To look at a postcard requires being in the right place in the chain of delivery. The hotel front desk (the user terminal in a computer analagy), the postman that collects it (the host ISP), those who sort it on route (the Internet backbone providers), the postman that delivers it (recipient ISP). It does not require skill it requires being in the network.

[Wildie]

Originally Posted by R Jones

that itmanagement earthweb article was fascinating - sort of blows a hole out of Kent Ertugruls arguments about how the public will welcome Webwise/Phorm, and digs an even deeper hole under BT's "Premium Browsing:Research Findings" (the survey that dare not speak its name) and their claims that BT customers really want Phorm/Webwise.

It would be a good article to copy to disk, and quote from/refer to.

did they cover that in yes minister how to do the survey to get the results you want and not what the poeple want?