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UK given time to determine legality of 'Phorm'
07 August 2008
EU commissioner Viviane Reding has written to the UK government requesting it to confirm whether a new web traffic monitoring system is legal under European law.
Phorm, which is about to be trialled on a large scale by BT, is able to track internet users' behaviour to ensure advertisements are better targeted.
Ms Reding gave the government until the end of the month to respond to her letter and state whether Phorm breaches data protection laws.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has confirmed there had been a "dialogue" between the two bodies and that it is working on its reply.
In April, the Information Commissioner's Office said it had discussed the matter with BT, which reassured users that unless their customers actively opt in to the trial the websites they visit will not be monitored
"Clearly the trial should reveal whether this is a service that web users want, whether it is privacy-friendly and that users are comfortable with the privacy safeguards put in place by Phorm," a spokesperson for the office said.
