Submitted by Theresa Kruse on
BigBrotherAwards 2005
Otto Schily, Minister for the Interior, increased his record to two BigBrotherAwards in 2005. After the jury had “honoured” him in the “Politics” category in 2001, he was now recognised for his lifetime achievements. This shows that our work must continue! Other awards went to the Federal State government of Lower Saxony, and for judges and numerous organisations that employ video surveillance.
The Jury 2005
Rena Tangens & padeluun FoeBuD e.V., Karin Schuler Deutsche Vereinigung für Datenschutz e.V., Frank Rosengart Chaos Computer Club e.V., Alvar C. H. Freude Förderverein Informatik und Gesellschaft e.V., Werner Hülsmann Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung e.V., Dr. Fredrik Roggan Humanistische Union e.V., Dr. Rolf Gössner Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte
Awardees 2005
Lifetime Achievement: Otto Schily
Mr Otto Schily, former Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany earns a BigBrotherAward for the current undemocratic introduction of the biometric passport, the technology of which is still immature and unsafe and which causes the whole population to be subjected to a police identification procedure normally applied to criminals.
Mr Schily will receive the BigBrotherAward also for his Lifetime Achievement, namely for the extension of the German and European surveillance system, to the severe cost of civic and freedom rights, and for his persistent efforts at eroding data protection under the guises of public security and fight against terror.
Politics: Saatgut Treuhand Verwaltung
"Saatgut Treuhand Verwaltungs GmbH", represented through CEO Mr Dirk Otten earns a BigBrotherAward for collecting data about farmers, for taking thousands of farmers unwilling to give their data to court, for procuring customers’ data from cooperatives and clandestine test-shopping at farmers’ shops. The farmers were suspected by Saatgut Treuhand to use potatos or other crops from their own harvests for next year’s plantings. For establishing a centralised control structure for the collection of fines as a service to the seed industry.
Governmental Authorities: Government of Lower Saxony
The Government of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), represented through the state's Prime Minister Mr Christian Wulff earns a BigBrotherAward for destroying the data protection authority in Lower Saxony. The supervision of data protection in the economy is to be handed over to Lower Saxony's Ministry of the Interior as of 1 Jan 2006. This undermines proceedings by the EU-Commission recently opened against Germany for breach of contract through disregard of the EU data protection directive. The EU directive requires total independence of data protection supervision.
Communication: High Office of Public Prosecution SH
The Generalstaatsanwaltschaft (High Office of Public Prosecution) of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, represented through Mr Erhard Rex earns a BigBrotherAward for the extensive search for witnesses (who were then treated like suspects) through locating mobile phones. This is the first massive search of mobile phone cells. Phone companies were forced to disclose complete connection data for a whole region. Data protectors of the state of Schleswig-Holstein who wanted to investigate this case were denied access to the related police files.
Technology: Video surveillance
The BigBrotherAward in the category Technology goes to a number of very eager surveillance fetishists for the creeping degradation of citizens to objects of continual compulsory observation and playing down the consequences of ubiquitous surveillance.
Consumer Protection: FIFA World Cup 2006
The organising committee for the soccer World Cup within the German football association (Deutscher Fussballbund, DFB) - represented by Mr Franz Beckenbauer earns a BigBrotherAward for the inquisitorial questions asked in ticket application forms, for their plans of sharing customer data with FIFA and its sponsors, and for the use of RFID spychips in the tickets and thus the attempt to make this surveillance technology acceptable - directly benefiting a World Cup sponsor (RFID producer Philips).
Politics: Volker Bouffier
The Minister of the Interior of the state of Hesse, Mr Volker Bouffier, earns a BigBrotherAward for the "preventive" locating and tapping of mobile phones; for DNA-analysing child delinquents under 14 for use in future prosecution; for authorising Hessian police to scan car licence numbers even when there is no suspicion of a crime; for using video surveillance while checking identities of members of the public.
Regional Award: Primary school Ennigloh
The Primary school "Grundschule Ennigloh" near Bünde and the banks "Volksbank Bad Oeynhausen Herford eG" and "Sparkasse Herford" earn a BigBrotherAward for sharing names of school beginners with the said banks for use in advertising ("Starter Account") without parents’ consent.
About BigBrotherAwards
The BigBrotherAwards highlight privacy and data protection offenders in business and politics, they have consequently been called “Oscars for data leeches” by the French paper Le Monde. BigBrotherAwards are an international project. 19 countries have so far given these awards for dubious practices.
The German awards are organised and held by ► Digitalcourage. Among the co-organisers are the German Association for Data Protection (Deutsche Vereinigung für Datenschutz, DVD), International League for Human Rights and the Chaos Computer Club.