TalkTalk or StalkStalk?

ORG is this afternoon meeting TalkTalk, whose system to log website URLs visited by their customers and scan the pages for malware has attracted significant controversy.

TalkTalk offered us the meeting to discuss their software and how it works after ORG was asked for press comment. I will be attending this afternoon alongside Advisory Council member Richard Clayton.

TalkTalk’s trial took place in secret, reminding many people of the controversy caused by BT when they trialled the now-abandoned Phorm advertising system, also based on interception of their cusomers’ communications.

We asked for a non-confidential technical briefing, but were offered a confidential meeting instead. We refused: ORG cannot be given technical information that we are not allowed to disclose.

So this afternoon, TalkTalk will be meeting us to explain as best as they feel able, how their system works. Understanding what the system does is crucial to understanding whether it is legal, so we hope that we do get sufficient disclosure from their technical staff.