How would you react if you found out that a company has been gathering information from you every time you go online? Do you think it violates your right to privacy?
Three British Internet service providers are in talks with Phorm, a London-based digital company, to provide its users with ads targeted to the user’s specific market. How do they do this? Picture this: They collect information about your browsing profile. So, it’s somewhat similar to having a private company gain access to your browsing history. “As you browse, we’re able to categorize all of your Internet actions,” said Virasb Vahidi, the chief operating officer of Phorm, in an interview with the New York Times. “We actually can see the entire Internet.”
And who benefits from this? The advertisers, ISPs, and Phorm, of course, as ads reach their intended audience (which means more effective ads), the ISPs that profit from happy advertisers, and Phorm for selling the technology. Right now, though, the British government is being asked to look into this technology—and ultimately to see if it infringes existing privacy laws.
We wonder which side will win, though. But boy, will it be annoying if your brother’s doing nothing but browse porn when he borrows your PC and you end up with all those raunchy, even shocking, ads when it’s your turn to go online.
Image by Free-StockPhotos.com
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