ISPs and Phorm - Guidance note ?

This was brought to my attention :

http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf

It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine, and
a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.

There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no privacy
markings.

If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA and
targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some concern
around these parts recently.

John L

John wrote:
> This was brought to my attention :
>
> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>
> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine,
> and a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>
> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
> would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no privacy
> markings.
>
> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA
> and targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some
> concern around these parts recently.
>
> John L

A little more on the subject here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7291637.stm

Brian G

Brian G wrote:
> John wrote:
>> This was brought to my attention :
>>
>> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>>
>> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
>> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine,
>> and a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>>
>> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
>> would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no
>> privacy markings.
>>
>> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA
>> and targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some
>> concern around these parts recently.
>>
>> John L
>
> A little more on the subject here:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7291637.stm
>

I see that the Open Rights Group, who are cited, also place great
store on what the the Polical Political Penguin,a self ploclaimed
advanced techie, has to say on the on the Phorm system.

But anyone with just the slightest understanding of how cookies are
communicated and the implications of the javascript same origin policy
would see that the guy is not so much of a techie as he claims.It's
also quite clear that he has no idea of the difference between
client-side and server-side javascript and as for his talk about
BT 'scanning users PC's for cookies', well....

We then see that what's said has been picked by other blogs
and cited as established fact.

Just over a year ago the Guardian reported on a Tim Berners-Lee
interview where he stated about the web that "there is a great danger
that it becomes a place where untruths start to spread more than
truths, or it becomes a place which becomes increasingly unfair
in some way" and he singles out the rise of blogging as one of the
most difficult areas for the continuing development of the web,
because of the risks associated with inaccurate, defamatory
and uncheckable information.

see also:

http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch...9163936,00.htm

Don

Brian G wrote:
> John wrote:
>> This was brought to my attention :
>>
>> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>>
>> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
>> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine,
>> and a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>>
>> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
>> would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no privacy
>> markings.
>>
>> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA
>> and targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some
>> concern around these parts recently.
>>
>> John L
>
> A little more on the subject here:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7291637.stm
>
> Brian G


From that link and Phorms statement...

"We are currently in conversation with the Open Rights Group to meet
with them and look forward to explaining how our technology sets a new
standard in online privacy."

Sounds like its certainly setting a new standard. Whether it is a
higher one is highly debatable at the moment.

John wrote:
> This was brought to my attention :
>
> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>
> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine, and
> a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>
> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
> would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no privacy
> markings.
>
> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA and
> targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some concern
> around these parts recently.
>
> John L

Very good list of Q & A chasing some of the most persistent issues -
here 7th March
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7283333.stm

Background story 12th March
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7291637.stm

Have your say page (24 pages at the time of posting!) from 12 & 13 March
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thre...20080313221209
(beware - the latter link contains more heat than light!!)

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
Hub forums here: http://hubbub.labs.bt.com/
Hub info & forum here: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub.html
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420

Robert M Jones wrote:
> John wrote:
>> This was brought to my attention :
>>
>> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>>
>> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
>> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine,
>> and a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>>
>> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although I
>> would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no privacy
>> markings.
>>
>> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA
>> and targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some
>> concern around these parts recently.
>>
>> John L
>
> Very good list of Q & A chasing some of the most persistent issues -
> here 7th March
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7283333.stm
>
> Background story 12th March
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7291637.stm
>
> Have your say page (24 pages at the time of posting!) from 12 & 13 March
> http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thre...20080313221209
>
> (beware - the latter link contains more heat than light!!)
>
I've since dicovered it came via the UK Crypto mailing list. The
archives are here :
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/pipermail/ukcrypto/

This list is excellent - populated by top end technical people and
lawyers. Possible input also from the Home Office and related agencies,
I suspect.

If you want to get a real handle on the legal issues round the
interception issue (RIPA), this is the place to find it.

John L

John wrote:
> Robert M Jones wrote:
>> John wrote:
>>> This was brought to my attention :
>>>
>>> http://cryptome.org/ho-phorm.pdf
>>>
>>> It _appears_ to be an informal guidance note from the Home Office,
>>> issued in January 2008. I have no way of knowing if this is genuine,
>>> and a search on the Home Office website finds no hits for this.
>>>
>>> There is no information on its source or intended audience (although
>>> I would guess from the contents, it would be ISPs). There are no
>>> privacy markings.
>>>
>>> If genuine, it provides a view on the relationship between the RIPA
>>> and targetted online advertising - which has been a matter of some
>>> concern around these parts recently.
>>>
>>> John L
>>
>> Very good list of Q & A chasing some of the most persistent issues -
>> here 7th March
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7283333.stm
>>
>> Background story 12th March
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7291637.stm
>>
>> Have your say page (24 pages at the time of posting!) from 12 & 13 March
>> http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thre...20080313221209
>>
>> (beware - the latter link contains more heat than light!!)
>>
> I've since dicovered it came via the UK Crypto mailing list. The
> archives are here :
> http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/pipermail/ukcrypto/
>
> This list is excellent - populated by top end technical people and
> lawyers. Possible input also from the Home Office and related agencies,
> I suspect.
>
> If you want to get a real handle on the legal issues round the
> interception issue (RIPA), this is the place to find it.
>
> John L

I see they have an archive for March 2036 - good to see they're keeping
ahead of the pack.

--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
Hub forums here: http://hubbub.labs.bt.com/
Hub info & forum here: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub.html
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420