A U.K. regulator has ruled that Phorm's ISP targeting practices are "are capable of being operated in a lawful, appropriate and transparent fashion," giving a boost to the web monitoring company's business of tracking consumers online.
In a brief statement today, the U.K.'s Department for Business,
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) also stressed that any profiling Phorm conducts must be done "with the knowledge and agreement of the customer" and that Phorm must make their business practices clear to users:
Phorm is an ad serving platform that tracks consumer web surfing habits through ISPs, a practice called "deep packet inspection" that has been mired in privacy violation accusations. American firm NebuAd has essentially pulled out of the business until Congress completes its investigation, but Phorm is moving forward with ISPs in Britain, as of last week.
The ad serving company first came under fire in 2006 when it was revealed that British Telecom conducted trials of Phorm’s technology without consent from users, a fact that was not mentioned by the BERR.
A European Union investigation of Phorm continues.
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