Smells like a witch hunt

Despite Phorm's self-styled aggressive stance on user privacy, UK customers remain adamantly distrustful of the service, reports ISPreview.

A survey of 1090 ISPreview readers found 57 percent would leave their ISP if it partnered with Phorm to serve targeted advertising.

Phorm works with ISPs to track online activity, then creates unique profiles of users interests. Relevant ads are served on participating websites, and ad revenue is split between Phorm, the ISP and the publisher.

Random numbers are assigned to users so they cannot be identified. Phorm says it does not store identities or past internet activity. It also committed to give surfers an opportunity to opt out if they wish.

Even so, only two percent of ISPreview readers said they would not leave their ISP if Phorm's technology was used to serve ads. 16 percent remained undecided; one quarter did not know what Phorm was.

Participating ISPs included Virgin Media, BT and TalkTalk, whose parent company, The Carphone Warehouse, recently sold a 50 percent ownership stake to Best Buy.

ISPreview says Phorm's method of quietly tracking across-the-board online behavior has been likened to Spyware. BT recently fueled the fire of contempt when it ran two secret Phorm trials on unwitting customers in 2006 and 2007.

This year BT plans to run yet another Phorm trial, this time with 10,000 consenting customers.