World Wide Web inventor slams ‘net snooping' technology
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UK-- Using deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to track people's online behaviour is “the same as wire-tapping someone's phone or opening their mail”, according to the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion on internet policy at the House of Lords today, Berners-Lee railed against online data mining, saying: “Reading the internet is a fundamental human act. We should be able to do so without any snooping”.
DPI technology is a key component in targeted advertising systems, which track the websites an internet user visits to match them with relevant advertising, and privacy campaigners are fighting to block the use of these systems without the prior consent of individuals.
One system in particular – Webwise developed by Phorm – has been the focus of much of the criticism of behavioural targeting, but Phorm CEO Kent Ertugrul was on hand today to defend his company's technology wherever possible.
He argued that Phorm does not collect any identifiable personal data and it's introduction would “throw a much-needed and vital lifeline to the traditional press, which is suffering a haemorrhage of advertising revenue”.
Ertugrul said Berners-Lee's opinion was “ignorant”. He told attendees that he had invited Berners-Lee to inspect his firm's technology several times but had never received a response.
Berners-Lee was quick to hit back, saying: “One of the reasons I haven't met with you is I didn't want anything I said to be misrepresented.” He then told Ertugrul that the bigger issue was “internet snooping”, not targeted advertising.
In his continuing defense of Webwise, Ertugrul said that data such as a web user's medical records and whether they looked at adult sites were not collected. He warned that those who oppose the technology should “not go into neo-luddite entrenchment”.
But whether or not such sensitive information was collected, Dr Richard Clayton, treasurer of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, said it was “criminal” that a third-party company could have access to that sort of information in the first place.
Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at Southampton University, echoed Berners-Lee's comments and called for a parliamentary discussion to address deep packet inspection and targeted advertising.
She said: “This debate has to be taken very seriously at the very highest level…I hope it becomes a major point in the next election.”
• In other behavioural targeting news today, Google is testing a new “interest-based” advertising system – though it says it will allow web users to easily find out why they were served a particular advert, and to choose whether to opt-out or set their own interest categories through an ad preferences manager. Read more here.
Meanwhile, Phorm has appointed Mike Moore as global commercial director. He joins the firm from Telegraph Media Group where he was digital general manager. Sarah Simon, the former managing director of European equity research at Morgan Stanley, has also joined the company as financial and strategic development officer.
Author: James Verrinder
Related links:
IAB leads ‘good practice' initiative for behavioural advertising
Crown Prosecution Service to review BT's Phorm trials
