If you live in the UK, you may be aware that some of the major ISPs (Virgin Media, BT) have been in discussions with an ex-spyware company (Phorm) to set up a system (WebWise) that will eavesdrop on
all of your internet activity, so that it can send you adverts.
This is unacceptable - it contravenes several privacy and copyright laws, and although there are claims that it is 'completely safe', the companies involved have displayed a terrible record of deception and disrespect of people's rights. The authorities have so far refused to intervene, so it's up to the people to try to sort things out for themselves.
There are plenty of activist sites on the net to give you information on the issues involved (start at Bad Phorm), and I urge you to take a stand if you value your privacy. If you're with one of the affected ISPs (especially BT), then you really should be thinking about getting a new ISP, one that will not sell you down the river.
I've done my bit by starting to pull together some easy-to-use tools for webmasters to control who gets to visit their site, and to automatically warn people who are subject to Phorm about the issues facing them. You can check it out here:
Phorm Check Database .
On a similar note, I've put up a couple of summary pages covering the general consensus on the legal status of Phorm / WebWise, and the trust issues surrounding the whole nightmare.