p2pnet news view Freedom | Advertising:- Deep Privacy Invasion firm Phorm has received a slap in the face from another major organisation.

Following complaints to the European Commission about how the privacy pirate tested its behavioural advertising ’service’ on BT users in the UK without their knowledge or permmission, the EC has started legal action against Britain.

The Open Rights Group wrote to Microsoft, Google/Youtube, Facebook, AOL/Bebo, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay urging them to opt-out of Phorm and soon after, Amazon said it won’t allow the company to, “scan its web pages to produce targeted ads,” according to the BBC.

Will it be the first of many? – p2pnet wondered.

Now, “The Wikimedia Foundation requests that our web sites including Wikipedia.org and all related domains be excluded from scanning by the Phorm / BT Webwise system, as we consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors’ behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy,” it says in a letter to Phorm.

Affected are 83 domains which should be excluded and, “please exclude any and all subdomains as well,” says the foundation.

Definitely stay tuned.

(Thanks, Alex)

started legal action – 121Media/Phorm and Wings over Moscow, April 15, 2009
BBC – Amazon blocks Phorm adverts scan, April 15, 2009
p2pnet – Anti-Phorm NoDPI Brussels bound, April 16, 2009