BT's 'illegal' 2007 Phorm trial profiled tens of thousands

Found on The Register on Sunday, 13 April 2008
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BT's covert trial of Phorm's ISP adware technology in summer 2007 involved tracking many thousands more customers without their knowledge than previously reported, it's emerged.

Today Phorm said the 2007 trial was actually performed on "tens of thousands" of lines. It refused to provide a specific figure, but at the absolute least there are 38,000 BT Retail customers unaware their communications have been allegedly criminally intercepted in the last two years. The number could be as high as 108,000.

Don Foster MP, a Liberal Democrat who has taken a lead in parliament over the Phorm controversy, has called on BT to reveal the details of its allegedly illegal action.

Phorm and BT say their lawyers told them the trials were legal, but won't say why.

I wonder where BT and Phorm got their so-called lawyers from. Even if you only grew up with daily-soap criminal series you should know by now that it's not really that legal to eavesdrop on people. The fact that even law enforcement needs a judge to permit tapping into a line should have made them think a little.