Slashdot Mirror
Phorm "Edited and Approved" UK Government Advice
Barence was one of several readers to send in word that the UK Home Office checked whether its interpretation of the law suited Phorm, before issuing advice on the legality of the controversial advertising service. The Home Office and Phorm entered a dialogue about the company's services back in August 2007, at Phorm's request. In an email sent to Phorm in January 2008, a Home Office official writes: 'I should be grateful if you would review the attached document, and let me know what you think.' After Phorm made deletions and amendments to the document, the Home Office sent another email to the company stating: 'If we agree this, and this becomes our position do you think your clients and their prospective partners will be comforted.' From the BBC: "Baroness Sue Miller, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on Home Affairs, told BBC News: 'My jaw dropped when I saw the Freedom of Information exchanges. ... Anything the Home Office now says about Phorm is completely tainted.'"
What is Phorm?
FTA: "Phorm serves up adverts related to a user's web browsing history that it monitors by taking a copy of the places they go and search terms they look for."
What is "Home Office"?
From Wikipedia: "The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security and order."
What is the relationship between the two?
That's the thing, they shouldn't have any sort of relationship.
One of the good guys. The voting record http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_miller_of_chilthorne_domer Baroness Miller http://suemiller.org.uk/
You picked the one Department that is least like the Home Office. The Dept. of State deals with issues external to the US. Interior, Homeland Security, Commerce, are the internal departments that are probably most like Home Office.
The Home Office's response can be viewed here.
Even more accurately, this is what it looks like when a Director of a private sector company also works in the public sector. For the very ministry responsible for regulating the company he sits on the board of.
It's not so much the fox guarding the hen-house as it is the fox being awarded an exclusive construction contract for every hen-house in the country.
Phorm should already be a slashdot meme, they're a psychopathic pastiche of "Get the Facts" era Microsoft and SCO.
http://www.stopphoulplay.com/
The CEO is a spyware peddler who doth protest too much about "protecting privacy". Well beyond parody, this is A-grade comedy for geeks.
The "Home Office", is interested in Phorm because the current mentally retarded government can see the potential of the system. Today it's re-writing web pages replacing adverts for their own on-the-fly, tomorrow it's re-writing whole web pages by government edict to write the gospel according to the government.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Google hit number 1 is the company itself.
Google hit number 2 is Wikipedia, which explains it as well as anyone could have done in the summary.
Then there are links to news articles, explaining recent controversy over it.
I know that RTFA (which would also have answered your question) is unfashionable here on Slashdot, but I'm wondering what your problem was with this Google search...
Well, not the only one. You may be in the minority, though.
It has appeared as article material here on /. before.
I do notice that I'm developing a tendency to think 'where have you been?' lately when I see a question like yours. :-)
I try not to actually voice that thought, as I realise that I have been off work recovering from surgery for a while(way too long!), and forget I spend far too much time here.
Please accept my apologies if I started off as being harsh.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti