Phorm and My Data

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7301379.stm

Another report says that Phorm needs better protection and that it will be black listed amoung data analyst firms if they go ahead with their current proposal. But the first article is very interesting in that it implies that the technology itself may be illegal, since users have to give consent for their data to be intercepted.

At present Talk Talk say their system will be opt-in, but BT and Virgin have yet to make a decision.

Personally I will be very surprised if this doesn’t get appealed against in the law courts.

What’s with the FIA this year?

Stupid decisions go hand in hand with the FIA like conspiracy theories and 9/11. In 2003 they insisted that the Belgium race go ahead in fog so bad that the drivers could barely see the car in front of them. That decision totalled almost every car in the starting line-up. Of the 23 car on the starting grid, 21 were smashed or run off the track at the first corner. I’ll always remember it. The cars took off and disappeared into a bank of fog. The scene cut to the next camera down the track, but the image stayed the same; grey soup. An suddenly out came a car. Followed by a tyre. Then another tyre. And they were followed by an uncountable number of car parts.

It was a disaster.

Now in the new race year, the FIA has banned traction control on the cars. While traction control can be argued gives the cars an advantage, it is also an essential safety device. Evidence that this was a mistake was shown in the Australian Grand Prix. So many drivers spinning off the track, so many accidents.

What were they thinking?