In the States, providers like Wide Open West have started using behavioral advertising tracking technology from NebuAD, and the only way users would have known is if they checked the FAQ or TOS. UK telco British Telecom took things one step further by testing UK behavioral ad system Phorm on 18,000 users without telling anyone. As we've discussed, ISPs are paid to host deep packet inspection hardware on their network that tracks user website use (down to the second), and then pitches those users with ads more suited to their interests.

The debate in the States over this technology hasn't heated up yet because only minor ISPs thus far are using it (as far as we know). The debate is reaching a fevered pitch in the UK, where the three largest broadband ISPs now use the technology. Some advertisers have started pulling out of their deals with the company, which has a history in both spyware and rootkits.