Phorm: public meeting announced for next Tuesday

Last month, we announced that Phorm, the company whose technology delivers targetted ads based on where you visit on the web, were planning to hold a public meeting to face their critics. Details of the meeting have now been announced.

When: Tuesday, 15 April, 1830 – 2030 Where: The Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental & African Studies, London (map)

The meeting is being hosted by 80/20 Thinking Ltd, and you can read more details about it on their website. Although the meeting is free for all to attend, 80/20 Thinking are asking that you send them an email to info@8020thinking.com to let them know you’re coming along. From the 80/20 Thinking website:

80/20 Thinking, with the full cooperation of Phorm, has decided to organise a public meeting as part of the PIA (privacy impact assessment) process. We intend to use feedback from this event to inform the PIA. A final version of the PIA will be published by the end of April 2008.

Attendees are encouraged to read the technical analysis produced by Richard Clayton [pdf] in advance of the meeting.

The Information Commissioner’s Office have today released a further statement on Phorm, making clear their belief that any systems using Phorm (such as BT’s webwise) need to seek the consent of their customers on an opt-in (and not an opt-out) basis.

I’ll be going to the public meeting next Tuesday, so if you’d like to ask a question, but you can’t make it yourself, please leave it in the comments.