The highly controversial system that monitors users’ web browsing habits with an apparent intention of better target ads, albeit without the consent of those involved, has been appearing in news since last summer. However, City of London Police officials have stated that there will not be any formal investigation of the firm BT over its alleged secret trials of Phorn, the ad monitoring system.

Upset users handed over a bulky dossier of evidence to the city police after the telecommunication’s annual general meeting in July. But the police felt no criminal offence has been committed, according to media reports.

Alex Hanff, one among the chief campaigners in the case, said: “They stated there was no criminal intent on behalf of BT and also that there was implied consent because the service was going to benefit customers.”

A think-tank Foundation for Information Policy Research lawyer, Nicholas Bohm, told BBC News that the police response was ‘absurd’.

He added, “A driver who kills someone when drunk has no criminal intent. It is not really a necessary ingredient of a crime. As for the idea that consent is implied on the grounds that some would like a service- that is not good enough at all.”