EC to monitor Virgin Media's traffic scanning

The European Commission will be monitoring Virgin Media's use of a network traffic monitoring system, after a complaint from Privacy International.

Virgin is planning to use Detica's CView to figure out how much piracy happens across its network, by scanning 40 per cent of traffic.

A spokesperson for the EC told ZDNet: "The Commission's services will closely monitor this case."

Privacy International complained about the service to the EC last year, noting that the UK Government is in the middle of infringement proceedings over BT's trial of deep packet tech from Phorm for behavioural advertising.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said the firm was already in talks with the EC to make sure everything was in line with laws. "We've engaged with all the relevant bodies, including Ofcom, the ICO and the EC, to ensure they have the information they need to make an informed judgement about our planned trial," they said in a statement.

"CView works at a core-network level, and simply analyses anonymously the percentage of data that flows across the network that is copyrighted and being shared unlawfully," the spokesperson added.

"We continue to communicate our intentions openly and transparently and it's important for us to reassure our customers that CView does not identify or store individual customers' data and does not identify individual use or behaviour."