• BBC News, Monday, March 17, 2008 11:15 AM

Tim Berners-Lee, one of the founding fathers of the Internet, reflects on plans by UK Internet service providers to use Phorm, a controversial company that tracks Web activity to deliver personalized advertisements. Berners-Lee doesn't want his ISPs to track the Web sites he's visited, and would be willing to change providers if it introduced such a system.

One of the main points of contention about Phorm is that its tracking software is opt-out, not opt-in. As we know, opt-out isn't very popular with users or privacy advocates. Facebook last fall was forced to renege on plans to track user purchases and activity through its opt-out advertising system, Beacon. Following a user revolt, CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to make the program opt-in.

"I myself feel that it is very important that my ISP supplies Internet to my house like the water company supplies water to my house. It supplies connectivity with no strings attached. My ISP doesn't control which Web sites I go to, it doesn't monitor which Web sites I go to," Berners-Lee said.

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