Sir Tim demands "opt-in" tracking

17 March 2008

Creator of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has outlined his personal views on the web-tracking debate.

In an in-depth interview with BBC News, Berners-Lee appeared at his most animated when it came to the subject of privacy.

Asked what he thought about access to a person's click-stream or search history, Sir Tim said: "It's mine - you can't have it."

"If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree - I have to understand what I'm getting in return."

Sir Tim said that he envisaged accountable computer programmes, which carefully safeguarded personal data from use outside of agreed terms.

"Systems that people build, which hold that data, will have to keep tags on it," he said. "A tag on it which says that this data has been acquired for this use only."

Concerns have recently been raised over the approach taken by Phorm, the company providing a new form of ISP-based web-tracking through Talk Talk, Virgin Media and BT.

In response to Sir Tim's comments, a spokesperson for Phorm told the BBC that he looked forward to explaining to the creator of the web how the system works.

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