The UK Home Office has been accused of colluding with Phorm after several emails between the two, which were released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, revealed that they had discussed a lot more than previously thought and may have even resulted in the government adjusting its official guidance to be more suitable for Phorm’s system.

Phorm controversially works with UK broadband ISPs (e.g. BT WebWise) to monitor what websites you visit for use in targeted advertising campaigns. The letters, which date back to August 2007, were sent to the BBC by a member of the public. Several extracts from the related messages have been re-pasted below:


Naturally Phorm's CEO, Kent Ertugrul, strenuously denies that any collusion took place and claims that the accusation is "untrue and misrepresents the way in which the British legal system works". Mr Ertugrul states that the advice given by the Home Office was merely an "informed opinion on ISP-based targeted advertising".

The Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on Home Affairs, Baroness Sue Miller, described the emails as jaw dropping and said: "I couldn't be more surprised [that] the very department drawing up policy to protect people's privacy is being that cynical. Anything the Home Office now says about Phorm is completely tainted."