Jaw-dropping

The BBC has uncovered collusion between the Home Office and Phorm, which illegally spies on our internet usage to sell us targeted advertising.

The Home Office has been accused of colluding with online ad firm Phorm on "informal guidance" to the public on whether the company's service is legal.
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In January 2008 the Home Office thanks Phorm for comments and changes to its draft paper, which show the company making deletions and changes to the document.

The Home Office official wrote to Phorm: "If we agree this, and this becomes our position do you think your clients and their prospective partners will be comforted."

Liberal Democrat Baroness Sue Miller said that this an other exchanges between civil servants and the company made her jaw drop. It is pretty shocking, but part of a pattern where civil servant somehow think it is their job to collude with business to deceive the public.

Police back British big business

The City of London police have closed their files on BT's allegedly illegal trials of spyware Phorm, the BBC reports.

"They said that there was no criminal intent on behalf of BT and that there was implied consent because the service was going to benefit customers," said Alex Hanff, one of the chief campaigners in the case.

Nicholas Bohm, a lawyer with thinktank Foundation for Information Policy Research, said the police response was "absurd".

"A driver who kills someone when drunk has no criminal intent. It is not a necessary ingredient of a crime," he said.

"As for the idea that consent is implied on the grounds that some people would like a service, that is not good enough at all," he added.

If this is true, it seems a bit odd, except that you might expect the City of London police to be reluctant to take on a company like BT.