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The phuss over Phorm
The targeted online advertising company Phorm, which has been accused of spying, breaking the law and just about everything else in the last year, has launched its latest charm offensive in its battle to prove its innocence.
The British company sparked damning headlines last year when it signed up the three biggest Internet service providers BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse to provide adverts to Web sites based on the surfing trends of users.
Phorm says the system is completely anonymous, does not store data on its users and will enable online publishers to make more money by showing more relevant adverts. With more interesting ads, there would also be fewer needed, they say.
Its service, which is yet to launch, has been welcomed by the media regulator and minister in charge of planning Britain’s digital future.
But its critics, who have formed Web sites, campaigns and a devoted following, say the company is “snooping” on online users and selling their surfing habits to advertising companies.
In its drive to win the PR battle, Phorm held its second “Town Hall” meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the public’s concerns and questions.
Far from feisty, the meeting was a mostly civil affair although the top table, led by former Chancellor and non-executive director Norman Lamont, still faced many questions on how they handle the data.
Thursday’s front pages: anti-social behaviour
The latest initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour and an apparent loophole in airport security feature prominently on Thursday’s front pages, along with the Chelsea gun siege and the Austrian house of horrors.
The Guardian says Home Secretary Jacqui Smith wants police to harass anti-social youths and make life as unpleasant for them as they do for their victims. Young thugs should be hounded and filmed. Story here
The Daily Telegraph is among several newspapers to pick up a BBC 2 “Newsnight” expose that foreign employees working in sensitive airport locations are not having their criminal records checked because of the time and effort that would involve. Story here
The Daily Mail features a picture of the wife of the Chelsea siege gunman looking on in horror during the standoff and runs the story under the headline: “I Love My Wife Dearly” — the message the paper says he threw out of a window before his death. Story here
A report that suggests Britain wastes around 10 billion pounds worth of food a year is the subject of The Independent front page. The paper says most of the waste is made up of entirely untouched food products. Story here
The Sun splashes what it says is the last picture of Elisabeth Fritzl before she was imprisoned for 24 years in a cellar by her father. Story here, while the Daily Mirror leads on the father’s insistence that he is not a monster because at least he did not kill his daughter and the children he fathered with her. Story here
The Times carries allegations from an Iraqi cleaner and two cooks that a culture of sexual harassment, abuse and bullying exists at the British embassy in Baghdad. Story here
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The Wall
It seems really shadey to me. Thier own website looks shadey.