The Guardian reports (Office of Fair Trading to investigate targeted ads and pricing online) that the Office of Fair Trading is to investigate aspects of behavioural advert targeting.
"We are also considering including the use of personal information in advertising and pricing," said the OFT. "In particular, we may look at behavioural advertising where information on a consumer's online activity is used to target the internet advertising they see.
The only company named in the article is Phorm, now bereft of likely UK ISP partners following a widespread grass-roots campaign against their intrusive ISP-level data harvesting system. The Phorm system is currently the object of EU attentions, the UK Government having washed its hands of responsibility in enforcing data protection legislation.
The news seems to have instigated a fresh drop in Phorm's share price, now doen to an all-time low of 108p.