Father of Web Warns of Internet Snooping

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, widely recognised as the father of the modern web, has warned that online snooping could pose a threat to the integrity of the internet. He’s particularly concerned by the use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which he likened to wiretapping.

Sir Tim was speaking before the UK All Parliamentary Group on Communications which was discussing the growth in user tracking for commercial purposes such as advertising. He warned of the serious threat to privacy if such data were “misused” and compared snooping on a user’s browsing habits to putting a “TV camera in one’s room”.

He pointed out that:

… the URLs which people use reveal a huge amount about their lives, loves, hates and fears. This is extremely sensitive information.

People use the web in a crisis, when wondering whether they have a sexually transmitted disease, or cancer, when wondering if they are homosexual and whether to talk about it … We use the internet to decide what is true and what is not, to discuss political views, to inform ourselves as voters in a democracy.

and concluded that:

There will be a huge commercial pressure to release this data. The principle should be that it is not to be collected in the first place

Sir Tim’s warning comes as the push towards behaviour targeted ads grows ever stronger. In addition many governments around the world, including the UK, are introducing rules to make ISPs collect and hold more rather than less of such sensitive data.