Privacy Advocate Speaks out against Virgin’s use of CView Technology

To do a short recap, we?ve covered CView a couple of times in the past. The technology is designed to monitor the level of piracy activity for internet service providers, but to do this it has to use fairly invasive method of look through data called Deep Packet Inspection.

ISPs could be forced to adopt the method in the future as a way of controlling piracy activity, but so far only Virgin Media has agreed to give the technology a go without any strong-arming from external sources.

However, privacy campaigner Alexander Hanff has claimed that he believes the use of Deep Packet Inspection through Cview and Virgin Media could be illegal. Hanff stated:

?Under RIPA [Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act] and PECR [Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations], consent or a warrant is required to do this. We feel it is a breach of our rights, our right to privacy in our digital communications.”

Virgin Media believe that the RIPA allows exceptions when dealing with network management, but this normally applies to the quality of service or traffic routing and not for the uses of CView which is essentially ?spying? on the data of their customers.

Hanff isn?t just a blogger with a chip on his shoulder. He?s pledged to dedicate everything he has towards the matter and for the man who was essential in bringing Phorm into the media spotlight and the eventual downfall of the company in the UK, Virgin might not be able to ignore him.

On his blog, Hanff is calling on people to leave Virgin Media:

?So I am laying the cards on the table ? how much is your privacy worth ? in fact lets go all out, how much is the privacy of your kids and their kids, and their kids kids and so on. Because make no mistake ? once we go down this path there is no going back. What happens now will impact every generation to follow ? we are responsible for safeguarding the future of private communications.?

Problem is, this isn?t just a case of a company choosing to take up a technology just because they want to like we saw when BT did secret trials of Phorm on its customers. Ofcom are already looking towards forcing all ISPs to use CView as part of an effort to combat piracy online, something that could happen in the very near future.

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