Detica dismisses internet spying concerns

Detica, the online security company, has dismissed concerns that it is spying
on internet users ahead of the launch of a trial to monitor illegal
filesharing over Virgin Media’s network.

Detica has brought its expertise in tracking online child pornography and
terrorism for the government into the digital media world by developing a
new system, similar to its high-level security technologies, that can
monitor illegal filesharing.

The company, which is part of aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems, will
launch the trial on Virgin Media’s network before the end of the year. It
will examine 40 per cent of the broadband company’s traffic for illegal file
trading meaning around 1.6 million people will be monitored.

Privacy watchdog Privacy International has criticised the trial, which uses
the same deep-packed inspection technology as controversial behavioural
advertising company Phorm, as “illegal”.

However, Detica’s executives categorically denied that the technology, called
CView, could be used to identify and spy on individual users. Andy Frost,
director of Media, told The Times: “Customer privacy is at the very heart of
this. We are not interested in tracking individuals - this is about
analytics.”

Dan Klein, media accounts director, said using CView to identify filesharers
would be “disproportionate” as trading music and films illegally is a civil
infringement. “It’s a very different proposition to child abuse,” he said.

CView works by monitoring networks for three types of files - eDonkey,
Gnutella and BitTorrent - which Mr Klein said represent “the lion’s share”
of illegal filesharing. CView makes a copy of those files and sends it to a
central database but it automatically strips out a user’s IP address from
each packet of data it copies. It then determines whether the file is an
illegally downloaded film or piece of music or a legitimately traded piece
of software or content.

Mr Klein said that CView is not reliant on a user’s IP address to work whereas
Phorm’s deep packet inspection technology needed the customer details to
work.

Detica analyses the data it compiles to determine the number of people engaged
in peer-to-peer trading and the volume of filesharing on the network. The
statistics it gathers should provide an accurate way to measure illegal
filesharing. Current methods for assessing the levels of peer-to-peer
trading are based on consumer surveys and guess work according to Detica.
“If you ask someone if they download illegally, they won’t always tell you
the truth,” said Mr Frost.

The data Detica compiles could be crucial in the battle against illegal
filesharing and underpin measures taken by the government to deal with the
problem. Internet companies will be required to assess, rather than
estimate, the level of illegal filesharing taking place on their network
once the Digital Britain regulations come into effect.

Although it cannot track individual users, Detica can determine whether a
letter writing campaign warning people to stop file trading has had any
effect on the overall volume on the network. It could also determine whether
commercial measures, such as cutting prices for downloads, reduces the
amount of people downloading illegal content.

Detica expects the trial to last two to three months and is actively talking
to other internet providers. Mr Klein said that Detica’s experience in
tracking online child pornography means it will be able to adapt to
technological changes. “We have experience in responding very quickly to
technological change,” he said.

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