Phorm critics, silenced, removed, erased, from BT forums discussing PHORM

Getting ready for an early election or perhaps because Her Majesty turned over two pages at once, he previousl announced Communications Data Bill allowing the creation of a state run database that stores every email, web page visit, phone call and text message has been elayed.

This would allow "communications data capabilities for the prevention and detection of crime and protection of national security to keep up with changing technology through providing for the collection and retention of such data, including data not required for the business purposes of communications service providers; and to ensure strict safeguards continue to strike the proper balance between privacy and protecting the public."

This doesn't mean that attempts to snoop on your web browsing have been shelved. Critics of PHORM the new advertisers service BT have been experimenting with, have found themselves suffer again at the hands of those freedom of speech people at BT - One of whose Directors is Patricia Hewitt the charmless gauleiter who introduced the world of private medicine to the NHS after 4 years at DTI - who is now cashing in her chips to spend more time with her money after her time as a Government Minister.

The recently ennobled shreiking Shriti Vadera , Gordon's bosom pal , the shrill mastermind behind Rail Privatisation , and collapsed tube privatisation , is now a Baroness is the Minister for Business and Competitiveness. She has met BT and there is no doubt has given them the dusky thumbs up.

Silencing the critics

BT subscribers have taken the opportunity to use BT Beta forums to criticise its relationship with Phorm ..."striving to create a new, more responsive, intuitive kind of internet experience" ... and raise concerns about the technical implications of ISPs wiretapping their customers.

As a result BT published this announcement on Tuesday ;

Our broadband support forums are designed to be a place where customers can discuss technical support issues and offer solutions. To ensure that the forums remain constructive we're tightening up our moderation policies and will be deleting threads that don't provide constructive support. For example, we have removed a number of forum discussions about BT Webwise.

If you do want to find out more about BT Webwise, we provide lots of information and the facility to contact us at www.bt.com/webwise. We hope you'll continue to enjoy being part of the support community.

When BT began their thrid trial of the PHORM system a 200 page thread on the issue on WebWisewas closed for comment in September.

This thread remained available to read and a new thread was started by BT Beta moderators

Yesterday they closed both and removed them.

Adam Liversage, BT's chief press officer, is quoted in The Register: "The reason why we've done this is that the point of the forums is technical support and the WebWise threads weren't appropriate." Ho...Ho...Ho

Closing the thread and removing them had no significance (like stifling debate ?) and disingenuously suggested ..." ...the people who are following this will have the threads backed up in multiple copies." Those who want a portal to such collections can find the door here.

So that's alright then.

When asked by The Register if more threads that BT considers inappropriate will be deleted, Liversage said: "I think they can, yeah."

Phorm's Dirty Tricks department tried to censor remarks and some unwlcome facts from their Wikipedia entry in April. (Phorm admits 'over zealous' editing of Wikipedia article)..."we accept that we were a little over zealous in our efforts to make those corrections and that we erroneously removed some relevant items in the editing process. "

See Sunday, March 02, 2008 Just when you thought it was safe to browse the Web. Also see discussion today at Think Broadband