Phorm Statement of compliance by UK Authorities

Link: [1]File-List

16th April 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0244061

Dear Mr Main

Thank you for your email of 16 April 2009 in which you have made a request
for information to the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to
phorm.  This request is being dealt with by the Internal Compliance Team.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  We will respond by 15 May 2009, which is 20
working days allowing for the May bank holiday.

Yours sincerely

Iman Elmehdawy

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

show quoted sections

http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

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6th May 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0244061

Dear Mr Main

Further to our acknowledgement dated 16 April 09, we are now in a position
to provide you with a response to your request for information.

On 16 April 2009 you requested the following information:

“[quote However, in so far as the Commission's announcement references
Phorm's technology, we should like to make the following points clear.
Phorm's technology is fully compliant with UK legislation and relevant EU
directives. This has been confirmed by

BERR and by the UK regulatory authorities end quote]

In view of the above statement by the CEO of Phorm please forward me any
correspondence or copy of statement made by the ICO that confirms the
validity of the remarks made by Mr. Ertugrul of Phorm.”

Please find attached a copy of a document dated 18 April 08 regarding the
ICO’s views on Phorm.

If you are dissatisfied with the response you have received and wish to
request a review of our decision or make a complaint about how your
request has been handled you should write to the Internal Compliance Team
at the address below or e-mail [2][email address]

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation.  To make such an application, please write
to the Case Reception Team, at the address below or visit the
‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of Information
Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.

 

A copy of our review procedure is attached.

Yours sincerely,

Iman Elmehdawy

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

Information Commissioner’s Office

 

show quoted sections

http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/radCF136_files/filelist.xml
2. mailto:[email address]

Link: [1]File-List

13th May 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0247756

Dear Mr Main

Thank you for your email dated 12 May 2009 in which you have made a
request for information to the Information Commissioner’s Office
(regarding giving a statement to Phorm).

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  We will respond by 10 June 2009 which, taking into
account the May bank holiday, is 20 working days from the day after we
received your request.

Yours sincerely

Iman Elmehdawy

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

show quoted sections

http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/radA3858_files/filelist.xml

Link: [1]File-List

10th June 2009

Case Reference Number IRQ0247756

Dear Mr Main

Further to our acknowledgment dated 13 May 2009, we are now in a position
to provide you with a response to your request for information.

On 12 May 2009 you requested the following information:

“Dear Sir or Madam, Thank you for your letter. Not withstanding the
copyright issues, a responsibility of another department, a fact of which
I am aware. That permission must be granted by both webuser and visited
website before interception can take place. I am sure your department
would have had some discussion with other agencies before coming to your
conclusion. I notice the difference between the Commissioner's statement
that 'Phorm CAN be compliant' compared to Phorm's statement that 'Phorm IS
fully compliant'. Have you or your department ever given this statement to
Phorm?Has your department ever told Phorm that their system 'IS' fully
compliant?”

In response to your request, the interception provisions in the Privacy
and Electronic Communications Directive 2002 were not included in the
UK’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations ‘03, but in
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ( RIPA). Interception is
subject to RIPA. We are not responsible for RIPA and as such we can’t
make authoritative determination whether Phorm’s technology does or does
not involve interception. No information is held in relation to this part
of your request.

In response to the second part of your request, please refer to the copy
of the statements that we sent you in response to your request for
information Ref number IRQ 0244262 (I have also attached copies of the two
statements to this email). The ICO does not hold recorded information that
says that “Phorm is fully compliant” with the data Protection Act 98
or Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. As explained in
our statement, the compliance is dependent on how the technology is used.
We said that we are satisfied that Phorm’s technology can be deployed
without breach of the DPA98 or PECR03.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the response you have received and wish to
request a review of our decision or make a complaint about how your
request has been handled you should write to the Internal Compliance Team
at the address below or e-mail [2][email address]

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation.  To make such an application, please write
to the Case Reception Team, at the address below or visit the
‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of Information
Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.

 

A copy of our review procedure is attached.

Yours sincerely,

Iman Elmehdawy

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

Information Commissioner’s Office

show quoted sections

http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/radC9FDD_files/filelist.xml
2. mailto:[email address]