: A word of warning before you decide to Switch On!
Big Brother is now watching 
and 
Customers using
So you're a customer of BT or Carphone Warehouse and are being asked to switch on this new service called Webwise.
An initial look makes it sound great, a free anti-phishing tool and a more relevant browsing experience. What I've learned is that if its for free then there's a catch, so where's the catch with Webwise?
I'm an IT Specialist with over 10 years experience working within the technology industry, I've been following the Phorm/Webwise debate with some concern. With this page, I'm trying to let non-technical people know what the catch is.
Why do I want anti-phishing?
Phishing protection will warn you when visiting known fraudulent web sites.
It's highly likely you already have anti-phishing tools in your web browser:
Internet Explorer 7 comes free with Anti-Phishing protection, turn it on if you have not already.Anti-Phishing protection also comes free with Firefox version 2 or later and Opera 9.1 or later.
But what exactly is this "more relevant browsing experience"?
The simple answer is more targeted ads.
But how are ads more targeted to you?
It's simple, you are being SPIED ON.
Every single normal web page you visit is intercepted, then copied to another computer. This copy is scanned for keywords to identify and categorise your personal interests. Data might come from your online shopping, the hobby sites you visit, charity sites or the news articles you read. When they have decided what you are interested in they add this to your profile stored on another computer owned by Phorm.
Advertising companies pay Phorm to get access to your data, the data that defines your interests.
Phorm, BT and TalkTalk earn money from each of the ads that are clicked on.
What happens if I opt-out, am I safe?
If you are a BT customer, then all your browsing still goes through the initial spying computer, you have to trust that Phorm or BT will not store a profile on you.
It is not currently known how TalkTalk customers are opted-out. They have said that if you opt-out you will not go to any Phorm computers.
If you don't want your internet access spied on or your don't want to support a SPYING company then change internet provider now.More Information:
1. The company BT and Carphone Warehouse have partnered with, Phorm(based in the USA), has a history in Spyware, have a look at their wiki entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorm
2. In 2006 and 2007 BT performed illegal trials of the Phorm system in the UK spying on tens of thousands of their customers without their knowledge. Shortly after the 2007 trials the BT Chief Technical Officer, Stratis Scleparis, resigned from BT and joined Phorm.
3. A government advisory body, FIPR, have produced a detailed legal analysis here: FIPR Legal Analysis by Nicholas Bohm. It concluded that Phorms system breaks the following laws:
• interception of communications, an offence contrary to section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
• fraud, an offence contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006
• unlawful processing of sensitive personal data, contrary to the Data Protection Act 1998
• risks of committing civil wrongs actionable at the suit of website owners such as the Bank of England.
BT and Phorm have responded by saying they believe their spying system is legal, but have not provided proof.
4. If you are interested, FIPR have also released a full technical analysis here: FIPR Technical Analysis by Richard Clayton.
5. BT are about to start a new trial of Webwise with Phorm in the UK imminently. This trial will involve 10,000 people.
If you have any further questions visit www.BadPhorm.co.uk or email info@DoNotTrustWebwise.org