So you're getting nowhere, time to contact your MP.

MP's are busy people. Unfortunately many of them don't have a particularly good grasp of the internet and it's workings, nor of the privacy issues surrounding it. You may find you need to explain in some detail just why this deal is bad for you, bad for their constituants and bad for the country as a whole.

Some points worth mentioning :

  • Phorm's CEO is directly associated with a company which has a history of developing and distributing the most invasive types of spyware, using techniques more commonly used by fraudsters to steal credit card and banking data.

  • This deal gives Phorm access to the full content of every web page you visit, potentially exposing all kinds of personal details to Phorm.

  • Phorm employs programmers sourced from the former Soviet Union, whos previous work was in Moscow's elite Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering, a vital part of of the Cold War spying effort and still a centre for developing Russia's 'national security' computer systems.

  • Phorm's CEO has admitted links with Russia's security services.

  • Phorm's equipment will be capable of recording all sites anyone visits, including those of political parties.

  • Phorm's own auditors are wary of the controls in place at Phorm, stating that "Because of inherent limitations in controls, error or fraud may occur and not be detected"

  • This level of access to communications data far exceeds that routinely available to the police or government agencies without a court order.

Those points should help you communicate to your MP just why this is such a bad idea. Feel free to direct them to this site if they want to do more research.

To find and contact your MP, use the database at Write To Them which will show you who your MP and MEP is. It's well worth writing to both your local MP and your European representative (MEP) as European views on Data Protection & consumer privacy are often much stricter than the UK's.