With the violation of personal privacy becoming a growing concern for online users, the Internet’s founding father, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has recently slammed Internet Service Provider plans to adopt web-tracking systems that would enable ISPs to monitor and record the surfing habits of their customers.
Internet founding father warns against ISP monitoring of user browsing history. Credit: Jared/Flickr.
One such system, Phorm, is presently under consideration by leading UK-based service providers such as BT, Virgin and Talk Talk. If implemented, Phorm would see online users presented with personalised Net advertisements based upon viewing habits taken directly from their individual Web histories.
According to Berners-Lee, it is imperative that personal browsing history remains as information belonging to the user and not the Internet Service Provider, with the ISP or any other commercial organisation unable to record viewing habits without the user’s express permission.
“It’s mine -- you can’t have it.” exclaimed the Net creator. “If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I’m getting in return.”
He also went on to say that consumer rights are “very important” in such matters and the adoption of history tracking systems, personal information sharing and personalised advertising could potentially lead to extremely negative effects for individual users.
“I want to know if I look up a whole lot of books about some form of cancer that that's not going to get to my insurance company and I'm going to find my insurance premium is going to go up by 5 percent because they've figured I'm looking at those books,” he outlined in a BBC News report.
According to Sir Tim’s concerns regarding the possible introduction of web-tracking systems such as Phorm, he believes that ISPs should not control what a user can view, or monitor what they are viewing. Indeed, he believes strongly that ISPs should exist much like any other conventional service provider delivering gas, electricity or water to a customer’s home.
“I myself feel that it is very important that my ISP supplies Internet to my house like the water company supplies water to my house,” he explained. “It supplies connectivity with no strings attached.”
Other online services have been similarly criticised in recent times for attempting to introduce tracking systems.
For example, social networking giant Facebook was slammed for Beacon, a mandatory advertising system that monitored user buying habits at certain Facebook-partnering online retail outlets and delivered that history for other Facebook users to see. Negative feedback subsequently forced Facebook to enable its users to decline participation.
In the case of Phorm, Talk Talk insists that customers would be given the choice of opting in to the tracking system, while BT and Virgin have yet to issue their final decisions on whether customers will be asked to opt in or out.
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