Orange Turn Phorm Blue

Orange might not be the first ISP to denounce the behavioural advertising service of Phorm (take a look at the 'Proud to be Phorm free! ISP) but they're certainly the largest.Paul-François Fournier, senior vice-president of Orange’s online advertising division, told the FT that there was “huge potential” for telecommunication companies to use customer data to target advertising but managing customers’ privacy was “critical”.“Privacy is in our DNA, so we need to be honest and clear about what we are doing,” Mr Fournier said. “We have decided not to be in Phorm because of that ... The way it was proposed, the privacy issue was too strong.”However, he didn't go quite so far as to say they'd never use it or a company in the same space such as NebuAd or FrontPorch.Currently Orange appear to be the consumer champions and perhaps this is something that BT should have thought about before unleashing the service on 10,000 unsuspecting customers back in 2006 and 2007. Although it would seem that it's not a case of once bitten twice shy as BT has gone for round two with Phorm.