Internet creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee against web tracking

London, March 17 : World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee stresses the need for protecting customers against systems that can reveal what they are doing on the internet.

He insists that he would change his internet provider rather than allow the introduction of such a system.

His statement comes amid the controversy over the plans of a leading internet provider to use Phorm, a company which tracks web activity to create personalised adverts.

Berners-Lee says that he will not like being tracked for which web sites he visits.

"I want to know if I look up a whole lot of books about some form of cancer that that's not going to get to my insurance company and I'm going to find my insurance premium is going to go up by five per cent because they've figured I'm looking at those books," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Berners-Lee also insists that those wishing to use a system to track customers' online activities should first negotiate with him, claiming that the web history belongs to him.

"It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return," he said.

Phorm, on the other hand, says that its system offers security benefits. The company claims that its system can warn users about potential phishing sites that attempt to con users into handing over personal data.

Berners-Lee, who was on a short visit to Britain from his base at MIT in Boston to promote a new subject of Web Science, also had a warning for youngsters about putting personal data on social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

"Imagine that everything you are typing is being read by the person you are applying to for your first job. Imagine that it's all going to be seen by your parents and your grandparents and your grandchildren as well," he said.

ANI