BT will not be prosecuted for snooping on the web browsing habits of its customers.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dropped a request bring charges against BT and Phorm - the firm that supplied the monitoring system.
The Webwise software used cookies to track people online and then tailored adverts to the sites they visited.
The CPS explained its decision saying that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution.
The web tracking trials were carried out in 2006 and involved more than 16,000 BT customers. When the covert trials became public they led to calls for prosecution because BT and partner Phorm did not get the consent of customers beforehand.
This left them open to prosecution under Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act which outlaws unlawful interception.
The call to bring both firms to court was led by privacy campaigner Alexander Hanff who took his complaint to the CPS after the police declined to take up the case.
"At present, the available evidence is insufficient to provide a realistic prospect of conviction," said the CPS in a statement.
"We would only take such a decision if we were satisfied that the broad extent of the criminality had been determined and that we could make a fully informed assessment of the public interest," it said.
The CPS said that influences on its decision included the fact that the trials were short and unlikely to be repeated. Additionally, the data gathered was anonymised and later destroyed.
It added that there was no evidence to suggest that anyone who unwittingly took part in the trial suffered any harm or loss.
A spokesman for BT said it had no comment to make on the case.
Friday, 8 April 2011
Thursday, 30 September 2010
EU sues UK.gov over Phorm trials
The European Commission is suing the UK government over authorities' failure to take any action in response to BT's secret trials of Phorm's behavioural advertising technology.
The Commission alleges the UK is failing to meet its obligations under the Data Protection Directive and the ePrivacy Directive.
The action follows 18 months of letters back and forth between Whitehall and Brussels. The Commssion demanded changes to UK law that have not been made, so it has today referred the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
Specifically, European officials charge that contrary to the ePrivacy Directive there is no UK authority to regulate interception of communications by private companies.
BT customers who complained about the secret Phorm trials revealed by The Register were told the Information Commissioner had no powers to investigate. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal meanwhile only has authority over interception by government bodies.
Secondly, the European Commission says the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which sanctions commercial interception when a company has "reasonable grounds for believing" consent has been given, does not offer strong enough protection to the public. The City of London police dropped their investigation of the Phorm trial, claiming BT had reasonable grounds to believe it had customers' consent.
European law says consent for interception must be "freely given, specific and informed indication of a person's wishes". BT did not obtain such consent to include customers' internet traffic in its testing.
Finally, the Commission says the provisions of RIPA that outlaw only "intentional" interception are also inadequate. "EU law requires Members States to prohibit and to ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception regardless of whether committed intentionally or not," it said.
If the government loses the case, it faces fines of millions of pounds per day until it brings UK law in line with European law.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we are in discussions with the Commission about this directive, and are disappointed the Commission has decided to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
"We are planning to make changes to address the Commission's concerns, and will be setting out more detail on any necessary amendments or legislation in due course."
The Commission alleges the UK is failing to meet its obligations under the Data Protection Directive and the ePrivacy Directive.
The action follows 18 months of letters back and forth between Whitehall and Brussels. The Commssion demanded changes to UK law that have not been made, so it has today referred the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
Specifically, European officials charge that contrary to the ePrivacy Directive there is no UK authority to regulate interception of communications by private companies.
BT customers who complained about the secret Phorm trials revealed by The Register were told the Information Commissioner had no powers to investigate. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal meanwhile only has authority over interception by government bodies.
Secondly, the European Commission says the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which sanctions commercial interception when a company has "reasonable grounds for believing" consent has been given, does not offer strong enough protection to the public. The City of London police dropped their investigation of the Phorm trial, claiming BT had reasonable grounds to believe it had customers' consent.
European law says consent for interception must be "freely given, specific and informed indication of a person's wishes". BT did not obtain such consent to include customers' internet traffic in its testing.
Finally, the Commission says the provisions of RIPA that outlaw only "intentional" interception are also inadequate. "EU law requires Members States to prohibit and to ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception regardless of whether committed intentionally or not," it said.
If the government loses the case, it faces fines of millions of pounds per day until it brings UK law in line with European law.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we are in discussions with the Commission about this directive, and are disappointed the Commission has decided to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
"We are planning to make changes to address the Commission's concerns, and will be setting out more detail on any necessary amendments or legislation in due course."
Monday, 17 May 2010
Cops back in on BT/Phorm case
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has called in City of London Police to assist as it decides whether to go to court over BT's covert trials of Phorm's web interception and profiling system.
The City force ran the original criminal investigation into the trials, which saw tens of thousands of BT customers' broadband traffic monitored without their knowledge or consent. The idea of Phorm's technology is to monitor users' behaviour at the ISP level in order to serve them appropriate adverts later. Privacy campaigners consider that this is worse than the tracking cookies already used for such purposes as the user has no visibility of the process and can gain control over it only with the ISP's assistance.
The City of London force declined to discuss its renewed role in the affair today. The CPS said the Square Mile cops have come back on board to assist in ongoing inquiries related to details around its original investigation.
It was claimed by privacy campaigners and legal commentators after The Register revealed the secret trials that BT and Phorm had committed offences under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which restricts covert wiretapping and interception of communications.
A file of evidence was handed to City of London Police, but detectives halted their investigation in September 2008 (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/22/bt_phorm_police_drop/). In a statement they argued that no criminal offence had been committed because they perceived no criminal intent by the two firms.
Subsequently Alex Hanff, now of Privacy International, wrote to the CPS asking for leave to bring a private prosecution, which prompted the current inquiries by prosecutors.
A CPS spokesman today declined to comment on when a decision over prosecution might be taken.
The prosecution service has previously stated that it is considering expert opinions on the matter. The Register understands it has had some of this expert material on file since January.
The City force ran the original criminal investigation into the trials, which saw tens of thousands of BT customers' broadband traffic monitored without their knowledge or consent. The idea of Phorm's technology is to monitor users' behaviour at the ISP level in order to serve them appropriate adverts later. Privacy campaigners consider that this is worse than the tracking cookies already used for such purposes as the user has no visibility of the process and can gain control over it only with the ISP's assistance.
The City of London force declined to discuss its renewed role in the affair today. The CPS said the Square Mile cops have come back on board to assist in ongoing inquiries related to details around its original investigation.
It was claimed by privacy campaigners and legal commentators after The Register revealed the secret trials that BT and Phorm had committed offences under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which restricts covert wiretapping and interception of communications.
A file of evidence was handed to City of London Police, but detectives halted their investigation in September 2008 (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/22/bt_phorm_police_drop/). In a statement they argued that no criminal offence had been committed because they perceived no criminal intent by the two firms.
Subsequently Alex Hanff, now of Privacy International, wrote to the CPS asking for leave to bring a private prosecution, which prompted the current inquiries by prosecutors.
A CPS spokesman today declined to comment on when a decision over prosecution might be taken.
The prosecution service has previously stated that it is considering expert opinions on the matter. The Register understands it has had some of this expert material on file since January.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Phorm announces Navegador for Brazilian ISPs
Phorm said it has signed deals to profile with five ISPs in Brazil. It will launch what it described as "the first phase of a country-wide roll-out" with Estadão, iG, Oi, Terra and UOL. Phorm will also deploy its content targeting system, Webwise Discover, branded as "Navegador".
According to the most recent statistics available from the International Telecommunication Union, there are more than 67 million internet users in Brazil, about 34 per cent of the population.
According to the most recent statistics available from the International Telecommunication Union, there are more than 67 million internet users in Brazil, about 34 per cent of the population.
As was planned in the UK, Phorm will profile internet users' interests by intercepting their traffic and looking for keywords in the web pages they visit. It acts as an exchange, allowing advertisers to target individuals based on what they have recently browsed. The targeted ads will be served up on publisher sites which sign up to the exchange.
Chief executive Kent Ertugrul said: "Beyond Brazil, we have successfully completed two trials in Korea".
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