Wikipedia blocks Phorm

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Wikipedia is to block behavioural advertising system Phorm, the foundation behind the site said today.

Wikimedia – the group behind Wikipedia and fellow wiki projects – has said it will follow Amazon’s lead and ask Phorm not to scan visitors to its sites, which it does to display more relevant ads.

“After some internal discussion on whether opting out of the Phorm user-profiling system in the UK would legitimize it, we’re going ahead and requesting an opt-out for all the domains under the Wikimedia Foundation’s control,” the group wrote on its blog.

In a letter to Phorm, Wikimedia’s chief technology officer Brion Vibber wrote: “We consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors' behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy.”

The decision to opt out of Phorm by Wikimedia and Amazon follows an open letter sent to web firms by the Open Rights Group, asking them to ban the scanning system.

On the ORG blog, executive director Jim Killock said: “We’d like to thank Wikipedia and Amazon for prioritising their users’ privacy and taking this stand. We hope Facebook, AOL, Bebo, MSN, Google and others can follow their lead.”

Phorm had not responded to our request for comment at the time of publication. However, after the Amazon case, Phorm told IT PRO that the company does not comment on individual cases, but does have a process to allow publishers to opt out of the service.

Phorm caused more controversy this week, as the European Union considered legal action against the UK following complaints about the scanning system.

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