Phorm hires ex-doubleclick privacy officer to quell concerns

Jeffrey Brooks Dobbs, until now VP of privateness and authorities affairs at DoubleClick, will be responsible for ensuring that Phorm's products meet legal demand, and that industry best pattern are met. The move comes as Phorm faces increasing scrutiny over its use of consumer data gleaned through ISPs, peculiarly in the U.K.

"This is not a knee jerk reaction," said Phorm's communications manager David Sawday. "We're only a small company, and it's unusual for a company of our size to have a privateness officer at all. The hire demonstrates Phorm's ongoing commitment to privateness standards," he continued.

Since it announced its partnership with three major U.K. ISPs in March, protestation sites and online petitions against Phorm have been established, and inquiry have been raised as to whether the company's actions are contravening privacy laws.

privateness advocates have argued that Phorm's method of intercepting user traffic, under the U.K's ordinance of Investigatory Powers Act, requires permission not only from the user, but from the operators of the Web sites involved.

The U.K.'s info Commissioner said last week that Phorm's products would need to be opt-in in order to comply with British people Privacy and Electronic Communications ordinance.

In effort to computer address these concerns, Phorm has conducted a figure of Web chats and meetings open to both consumers and advocacy groups.

In a statement e-mailed to ClickZ News, Becky Hogge, executive director director of digital rights advocacy organization Open Rights Group noted, "though Phorm are clearly making an attempt to take privateness seriously and to be open with their potentiality customers, from ORG's position it's hard to see past the outstanding issue of conformity with the ordinance of Investigatory Powers Act." Hogge continued, "This will be a challenge for Jeffrey Brooks Dobbs."

Dobbs's previous employer, DoubleClick also was in hot water over privacy in 2000, culminating in a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the ways in which it aimed to pair online and offline consumer data. In response, the company created two privacy-related positions.

Phorm has also submitted comments to the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, which is consulting with the online ad industry on new principles for governing online behavioral advertising. �No retention of consumers� browsing data is required for Phorm�s technology to work effectively," the company stated.

Sawday said that Dobbs will be based primarily in the U.S., but would be working across Europe also. When asked if the company was pursuing further expansion in the U.S., Sawday said that it was in "advanced talks with a number of international ISPs." Dobbs will officially start on May 1.