Quick heads up to anyone following the Phorm/privacy debates: The government’s response to an e-petition to ask the government to stop ISP’s from breaching privacy laws has been released.
The full response can be read here, it’s fairly short so I won’t go into too much detail, but I’m glad to see the government is taking this seriously and not passing the buck to the ICO (the ICOs view):
ICO is an independent body, and it would not be appropriate for the Government to second guess its decisions. However, ICO has been clear that it will be monitoring closely all progress on this issue, and in particular any future use of Phorm’s technology. They will ensure that any such future use is done in a lawful, appropriate and transparent manner, and that consumers’ rights are fully protected.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention; your concerns are very important to us; your concern will be answered shortly…”
— Andrew Waite