Phorm Hires Ex-DoubleClick Privacy Officer to Quell Concerns

In a further attempt to quell privacy concerns surrounding its controversial technology, behavioral ad-targeting company Phorm has hired its first Chief Privacy Officer.

Jeffrey Brooks Dobbs, until now VP of privacy and government affairs at DoubleClick, will be responsible for ensuring that Phorm’s products meet legal requirements, and that industry best practices are met. The move comes as Phorm faces increasing scrutiny over its use of consumer data gleaned through ISPs, particularly in the U.K.

“This is not a knee-jerk reaction,” said Phorm’s communications director David Sawday. “We’re only a small company, and it’s unusual for a company of our size to have a privacy officer at all. The hire demonstrates Phorm’s ongoing commitment to privacy standards,” he continued.

Since it announced its partnership with three major U.K. ISPs in March, protest sites and online petitions against Phorm have been established, and questions have been raised as to whether the company’s actions are contravening privacy laws.

Privacy advocates have argued that Phorm’s method of intercepting user traffic, under the U.K’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, requires permission not only from the user, but from the operators of the Web sites involved.

The U.K.’s Information Commissioner said last week that Phorm’s products would need to be opt-in in order to comply with British Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

In attempts to address these concerns, Phorm has conducted a number of Web chats and meetings open to both consumers and advocacy groups.

In a statement e-mailed to ClickZ News, Becky Hogge, executive director of digital rights advocacy organization Open Rights Group noted, “Although Phorm are clearly making an effort to take privacy seriously and to be open with their potential customers, from ORG’s perspective it’s hard to see past the outstanding issue of compliance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.” Hogge continued, “This will be a challenge for Jeffrey Brooks Dobbs.”

Dobbs’s previous employer, DoubleClick also was in hot water over privacy in 2000, culminating in a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the ways in which it aimed to pair online and offline consumer data. In response, the company created two privacy-related positions.

Phorm has also submitted comments to the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, which is consulting with the online ad industry on new principles for governing online behavioral advertising. “No retention of consumers’ browsing data is required for Phorm’s technology to work effectively,” the company stated.

Sawday said that Dobbs will be based primarily in the U.S., but would be working across Europe also. When asked if the company was pursuing further expansion in the U.S., Sawday said that it was in “advanced talks with a number of international ISPs.” Dobbs will officially start on May 1.