Rise and Phall?

Lessons from the Phorm Saga

Paul Bernal – p.a.bernal@lse.ac.uk

Phorm’s ‘Webwise’

Complete behavioural targetingA rising star of a rising sector?

Issues with WebwiseIntercepts communicationsThe ‘masquerading’ cookie

Complete surveillance

Sensitive data? Personal data?

BUT… Phorm links it to a ‘non-personal’ UID, not to a person or IP address

The Rise of Phorm?

Allies in businessSupport from government

Some privacy ‘endorsement’?

Secret trials!

Legal challenges…

Media wars…

European intervention…

A ‘privacy friendly’ system?

The fall of Phorm…

The fall of Phorm…

Symbiotic regulation?

Phorm used the big guns…

The law…Business

Government

The power of an active community

As protestorsAs citizens

As customers

The letter of the law…

…vs. what peoplebelieved was right

Facebook’s Beacon

Same kind of storysame kind of result

Google StreetView

Just as intrusive…Why a different result?

The Phall-out…

For the UK government……and for the behavioural targeters

A balanced and beneficial symbiosis?

Paul Bernal – p.a.bernal@lse.ac.uk