One of our readers, Mel, has spotted an update to BT's Webwise (Phorm) FAQ, which sadly shows that the operator has decided to continue with its 'cookie' based opt-out method. Cookies are small information (text) files saved on your computer by a web browser and store basic details about your interaction with a website. For example, on most websites cookies allow users re-visiting a site to stay logged into the discussion forum without having to re-type the details each time:


Though blocking the Webwise domain in your browser is feasible, it strikes us as quite a rough and ready "solution" that most users would rather not have to deal with, especially those that don't understand computers very well. Likewise there are many different types of operating systems and browsers, some of which do not give you the ability to block domains!

By contrast, cookies are usually different for every browser and many are often cleared every few days by a pre-set value, indeed cookies frequently become corrupted and auto-clear themselves. The fallibility of cookies is part of the reason why TalkTalk plans to adopt a more respectable server level solution for its Phorm implementation. More information can be found in Mel’s post on our forums here.