By Nikki Sandison, Marketing Direct, 17 April 2009, 08:00am

ISBA calls for EC to drop legal action over Phorm

LONDON - ISBA, the British advertising body, is calling on the European Commission to cancel its legal action against the UK Government over its support for behavioural targeting company Phorm.

The advertising body said that the EU is "getting ahead of itself" and argues that concerns about the technology "can and should be addressed by the UK's successful system of advertising self-regulation".

The EC started legal action against Britain on Tuesday following complaints from UK citizens and members of the European Parliament about Phorm being tested on the BT network without customer consent.

ISBA is urging the EC to stop its legal challenge and refers to the work the Internet Advertising Bureau has undertaken in consultation with industry bodies including ISBA.

In March the IAB published a set of Good Practice Principles on behavioural targeting, which were backed by Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards and the Information Commissioner's Office.

A total of 10 businesses have initially committed themselves to the guidelines including Google, Microsoft, Platform A, Yahoo! And Phorm.

David Ellison, ISBA's marketing services manager, said: "Although we understand there are some concerns over online behavioural targeting, ISBA has confidence in the ability of the UK self-regulatory system and in the IAB's principles for users of this new technology.

"The IAB principles have the backing of Ofcom and the UK Government and are designed to promote transparency and user choice, as well as to help consumers better understand the benefits of behavioural targeting. Importantly, the technology itself has also been cleared by the Information Commissioner's Office."