A British Telecom trial of Phorm starts Tuesday, the behavioral a...

be used throughout the telco’s network, it said. A BT spokesman said the company hopes to see 10,000 customers take part in the trial, which will run at least four weeks, the BBC reported. Subscribers invited to take part will see a special Web page when they start browsing and can opt in or out or seek more information, it said. The U.K. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform this week responded to questions from the European Commission about Phorm’s compliance with EU privacy and data protection rules. A statement by the department, which reportedly refused to make public its entire response to the EC, said the technology will protect privacy if: (1) User profiling is done with customer knowledge and accord. (2) The profile is based on a unique identification assigned randomly, hiding the user’s identity. (3) Search terms used by users and advertising categories exclude sensitive terms and are drawn widely to avoid revealing user identities. (4) Phorm doesn’t collect information letting it link a user ID and profile to a living person. (5) Users are given an “unavoidable statement” about the product and are asked to choose whether to be involved. (6) Users have easy access to information on how to change their minds and are free to opt out of the program. Enforcement authorities will study future Phorm developments, the department said. But the Open Rights Group said the department’s conditions “either misunderstand or ignore a crucial stakeholder in the web- browsing process -- website owners.” Unless ISPs using Phorm’s technology to intercept communications between their subscribers and owners of Web sites their customers are visiting have both sides’ express consent, they probably will be violating the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, on intercepting communications, the group said. Several Freedom of Information requests seeking full disclosure of the department’s letter to the EC have been filed, the group said.