Phorm and Webwise ?

OK...so if I've got this right..

According to what I've discovered thus far..

If Virgin Media go ahead with this then my browsing data will be
captured and then sold to a third party company who will analyze said
data to pick up on my browsing habits so as to target me for more
relavant online advertising.

Said third party company promise that they won't do anything with
confidential data like online banking information or other https
traffic.

I can at some stage elect to 'opt out' of this..
But as I understand from what I've read so far 'opting out' simply
means that I won't be targetted for the advertising..meantime by
browsing data is still catpured and passed onto the third party
company.

So what is to stop them passing on my browsing info to another company
who may target me with junk mail instead.

And where would my personal data end up ? some outsourced resource in
India ?

This sounds like complete madness !

I sincerely hope that other ISP's who decide not to go down this route
trumpet this from the hilltops.

I cannot honestly believe that Virgin Media are actually going to go
down this route.

I believe it's a feint to get BT and Carphone Warehouse to commit
where upon Virgin Media will do an about face and change their mind.

...here's hoping..

Jim.

On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:16:52 UTC, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> I sincerely hope that other ISP's who decide not to go down this route
> trumpet this from the hilltops.

Indeed:

http://www.aaisp.net/

--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]

On 21/03/2008 08:16, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> as I understand from what I've read so far 'opting out' simply
> means that I won't be targetted for the advertising..meantime by
> browsing data is still catpured and passed onto the third party
> company.

Correct

> So what is to stop them passing on my browsing info to another company
> who may target me with junk mail instead.

Because they don't know who "you" are, only which web sites a machine
with a certain cookie on it visited, of course they (or someone else)
might try to tie they information together and find who owns/uses the
computer, or may add 2+2 and get 9.

> Because they don't know who "you" are, only which web sites a machine
> with a certain cookie on it visited, of course they (or someone else)
> might try to tie they information together and find who owns/uses the
> computer, or may add 2+2 and get 9.

So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something for my brithday
online..say a new watch for instance..

...a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts all about
watches therefore revealing what she may have secretly purchased for
me as a forthcoming gift...fantastic !

Well thought out isn't it..

Jim.

(E-Mail Removed) writes:

> So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something for my brithday
> online..say a new watch for instance..
>
> ..a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts all about
> watches therefore revealing what she may have secretly purchased for
> me as a forthcoming gift...fantastic !

Surely that is counter-productive for the advertisers. The time to show
the adverts is while you are still looking prior to purchasing. Once you
have purchased, especially an expensive item, you are unlikely to
purchase an alternative in the immediate future. So once the purchase
has been made, advertisers of alternative products have missed their
opportunity. So while you are investigating the market, adverts for
similar products are appropriate, but once the purchase has been made it
would more appropriate to target adverts for accessories and other
items/services related to what was purchased. This applies equally to
goods and services. So for example while someone is researching
holidays, adverts for package holidays, resorts, price comparison sites
etc might be appropriate. Once the holiday has been booked, sending more
adverts for holidays would be a waste of time, but adverts for luggage
and items appropriate to the booked holiday (like sun protection and
swimwear for beach resorts, ski accessories for winter holidays, etc)
would be more likely to lead to a sale.

>> So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something for my brithday
>> online..say a new watch for instance..
>>
>> ..a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts all about
>> watches therefore revealing what she may have secretly purchased for
>> me as a forthcoming gift...fantastic !
>
> Surely that is counter-productive for the advertisers. The time to show
> the adverts is while you are still looking prior to purchasing. Once you
> have purchased, especially an expensive item, you are unlikely to
> purchase an alternative in the immediate future. So once the purchase
> has been made, advertisers of alternative products have missed their
> opportunity. So while you are investigating the market, adverts for
> similar products are appropriate, but once the purchase has been made it
> would more appropriate to target adverts for accessories and other
> items/services related to what was purchased. This applies equally to
> goods and services. So for example while someone is researching
> holidays, adverts for package holidays, resorts, price comparison sites
> etc might be appropriate. Once the holiday has been booked, sending more
> adverts for holidays would be a waste of time, but adverts for luggage
> and items appropriate to the booked holiday (like sun protection and
> swimwear for beach resorts, ski accessories for winter holidays, etc)
> would be more likely to lead to a sale.

Which suggests it would be prudent of these companies not only to monitor
the browsing habits, but also the purchases, raising serious security
questions.

On 21 Mar, 13:26, "Trent SC" <Tr...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> >> So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something for my brithday
> >> online..say a new watch for instance..
>
> >> ..a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts all about
> >> watches therefore revealing what she may have secretly purchased for
> >> me as a forthcoming gift...fantastic !
>
> > Surely that is counter-productive for the advertisers. The time to show
> > the adverts is while you are still looking prior to purchasing. Once you
> > have purchased, especially an expensive item, you are unlikely to
> > purchase an alternative in the immediate future. So once the purchase
> > has been made, advertisers of alternative products have missed their
> > opportunity. So while you are investigating the market, adverts for
> > similar products are appropriate, but once the purchase has been made it
> > would more appropriate to target adverts for accessories and other
> > items/services related to what was purchased. This applies equally to
> > goods and services. So for example while someone is researching
> > holidays, adverts for package holidays, resorts, price comparison sites
> > etc might be appropriate. Once the holiday has been booked, sending more
> > adverts for holidays would be a waste of time, but adverts for luggage
> > and items appropriate to the booked holiday (like sun protection and
> > swimwear for beach resorts, ski accessories for winter holidays, etc)
> > would be more likely to lead to a sale.
>
> Which suggests it would be prudent of these companies not only to monitor
> the browsing habits, but also the purchases, raising serious security
> questions.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

scary stuff..

Jim.

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:793013e9-9a3c-4870-a660-(E-Mail Removed)

[snip]

: So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something
: for my brithday online..say a new watch for instance..
:
: ..a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts
: all about watches therefore revealing what she may have
: secretly purchased for me as a forthcoming
: gift...fantastic !
:
: Well thought out isn't it..

My PC doesn't pop up any ads about anything.

http://adblockplus.org/en/


Ivor

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2fac6182-499f-4c7e-96ad-(E-Mail Removed)
: On 21 Mar, 13:26, "Trent SC" <Tr...@invalid.invalid>
: wrote:

[snip]

: > Which suggests it would be prudent of these companies
: > not only to monitor the browsing habits, but also the
: > purchases, raising serious security questions.- Hide
: > quoted text -
: >
: > - Show quoted text -
:
: scary stuff..
:
: Jim.

"The Last Enemy" shown on BBC1 recently was scary stuff. What's scarier is
how close to it we really are.

Ivor

> [snip]
>
> : So when my wife sits at the PC and purchases something
> : for my brithday online..say a new watch for instance..
> :
> : ..a hour or so later my PC will start popping up adverts
> : all about watches therefore revealing what she may have
> : secretly purchased for me as a forthcoming
> : gift...fantastic !
> :
> : Well thought out isn't it..
>
> My PC doesn't pop up any ads about anything.
>
> http://adblockplus.org/en/

This isn't about pop-up windows (Jim used the term in a slightly "relaxed"
way). This technology takes a web page to which you've navigated that has
adverts on it, removes those ads and replaces them with its own advertisers'
crap, based on your personal browsing habits and history.

The technology as it currently stands is embedded into your ISP's systems
and only monitors http traffic; but it's reasonable to assume that the
monitoring/spying - through your ISP - could be extended to include SMTP,
UseNet and anything else it wants.

I would be interested to know just how much Phorm is offering to ISPs to
allow them access to our browsing habits.