Possible answers to 'Opt Out' meaning.
The issue of the 'opt out' is seriously bothering me with regards to how vague it sounds. I found someone claiming to work for Phorm who was posting on a blog for Labour Councillor Bob Piper. Anyway I originally asked:
"Would you care to explain how the 'Opt Out' works ? I suspect that by opt out what is really meant is that a machine will not be targeted with adverts. Can you really explain exactly how the opt out process works in a technical manner and not by just referencing the website you can go to to click 'opt out' as this explains nothing. Most importantly, if someone has decided to opt out, will any data what so ever be sent from the ISP network across to the Phorm network for any form of processing ?"
And got this answer from 'techteam':
"When you opt out -- or switch the system off, it's off. 100%. No browsing data whatsoever is passed from the ISP to Phorm. We should be clear that the Phorm servers are located in the ISP's network and browsing data is not transmitted outside the ISP. Even if you are opted out websites will still show you ads (as they do now) but these will not be adverts from the OIX system and they will not be relevant to your browsing."
It's till hasn't made me any more happy about this whole situation, and I've no idea who this person is or if they are even legit, but the full details can be found here:
http://www.bobpiper.co.uk/2008/03/theyve_got_phorm.php