Brussels to sue UK government
The European Commission has revealed it plans to sue the UK government over its failure to take action against BT and Phorm for their secret broadband interception trials.
Back in February 2008 we reported on BT's partnership with advertising company Phorm and its plans to monitor the web surfing activity of all its customers, including their web mails, so that it could deliver lucrative targeted advertising whilst claiming it will result in a "better surfing experience". Naturally this approach raises huge privacy concerns although Phorm has insisted its methods do not identify named individuals.
It has since emerged that BT conducted a number of secret trials of the technology where some customers surfing habits were monitored, and the Commission says this amounts to an interception of communications in violation of the Europe-wide privacy in communications directive (EPIC). Since 2008, the Commission has written several letters to the UK authorities asking how the relevant EU laws have been implemented in the context of the Phorm case, but failing to receive satisfactory answers, it has now begun formal infringement proceedings.
It isn't just Brussels which is unhappy with this concept. Wikimedia, the organisation behind Wikipedia, and online bookseller Amazon have both recently written to Phorm asking that traffic to its websites to be excluded from any future trials.
24th April 2009