Wikimedia Foundation turns down Phorm

The Wikimedia Foundation has become the latest Web giant to opt out of Phorm's user-tracking targeted-advertising system.

After Amazon did the same earlier last week, Wikimedia took the plunge last week, "after some internal discussion on whether opting out of the Phorm user-profiling system in the United Kingdom would legitimize it".

The move means that users of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia properties cannot have their surfing tracked across those sites by Phorm/Webwise.

Unlike Amazon, which gave no explicit reason for its decision, Wikimedia outlined its motivation to the Phorm/Webwise folks: "...we consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors' behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy".