Press & PR

UK telecoms giant BT's secret testing of advertising software on its customers has reportedly been found to have affected at least 38,000 users.

BT's trials of the Phorm software were conducted in two stages, with 18,000 customers' internet usage data analysed during the first phase, the Register reports.

However, figures for the second stage have not yet been released officially, but the resource asserts while an "absolute minimum" of 38,000 customers were used in the trials, that number could be as much as 108,000.

A spokesperson from Phorm said that while the company was not prepared to issue an official figure, at its peak the trial did involve "tens of thousands" of people.

BT has refused to issue figures, although it said the test had been scaled back from hundreds of thousands of customers.

Elsewhere, the Foundation for Information Policy Research has written an open letter to the Information Commissioner asserting that BT's actions had been illegal, noting that under European law, customers would have to consent to sharing such information.

Vonage provides a secure alternative to landline phones, enabling people to make cheap calls over the internet using broadband phone services.