17 Apr 2015 Hechelei Bielefeld

BigBrotherAwards 2015

Double strike for Amazon

Extraordinary data leeches deserve extra attention. Which is why Amazon is not given one BigBrotherAward but two. Sadly, workers’ rights are not part of the company’s product range. Also awarded is the “Hello Barbie” doll by Mattel, the exterior secret service BND and the Ministry for Health. The (former) Interior Ministers Friedrich and de Maizière obstruct European data protection, and they are consequently chastised by guest laudator Max Schrems. De Maizière does not appear to collect his award, but we are happy to deliver it to him at the biennial Evangelical Church Assembly.

The (unfortunate) Awardees 2015

Eine Barbie mit blonden Haaren. Rechts daneben ein Warnschild: „Warning! Audio surveillance. Barbie in operation.“

Image:Mike Licht CC-BY 2.0 Source

Technology (2015)

“Hello Barbie”

“Hello Barbie”, represented by the involved manufacturers Mattel and Toytalk, receives the BigBrotherAward in the Technology category. This doll is equipped with a microphone and Wi-Fi. It uses this to record conversations, sends…

Laudator.in

Linus Neumann

Image:Robert Agthe CC-BY 2.0

Authorities & Administration (2015)

Federal Intelligence Agency (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND)

The BigBrotherAward 2015 in the category Administration is awarded to the Federal Intelligence Agency (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND), because of its intimate entanglement with the NSA’s surveillance network, which is contrary to…

Laudator.in

Dr. Rolf Gössner

Ein Amazon-Logistikzentrum aus der Ferne.

Image:Dominik MüllerCC-BY-SA 3.0

Business (2015)

Amazon Mechanical Turk and Elance-oDesk

The crowd-working platforms Amazon Mechanical Turk and Elance-oDesk receive the BigBrotherAward 2015 in the Economy category for realising digital day-labourship. A trend which will not only turn our working environment inside-out…

Laudator.in

Rena Tangens

Ein Amazon-Logistikzentrum aus der Ferne. Vor dem Gebäude stehen mehrere LKWs.

Image:Dominik MüllerCC-BY 3.0

Workplace (2015)

Amazon Logistik

The Amazon subsidiaries in Bad Hersfeld and Koblenz receive the BigBrotherAward 2015 in the “Workplace” category for conditions in their employment contracts that violate employees’ personal rights. The companies demand that…

Laudator.in

Prof. Dr. Peter Wedde

Ein Motherboard. Darauf kleine Figürchen der Spurensicherung in Schutzanzügen.

Image:Hans-Peter CC-BY 2.0 Source

Newspeak (2015)

Securing Digital Evidence

As an example for incessant attempts to foist telecommunications data retention on the public, the term “securing digital evidence” (“digitale Spurensicherung”) is given the Newspeak award. It is just one of many neologisms…

Laudator.in

Kai Biermann

Detailaufnahme einer Gesundheitskarte, die zum Teil aus einer Geldbörse guckt.

Image:Tim Reckmann CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 Source

Consumer Protection (2015)

Federal Ministry of Health

The Federal Ministry of Health, represented by the current minister of Health, Hermann Gröhe, receives the BigBrotherAward 2015 in the “Consumer Protection” category. With its “e‑health” projects, the ministry has severely…

Laudator.in

padeluun

Portraitaufnahmen von Hans-Peter Friedrich (links) und Thomas de Maizière (rechts).

Bild: Komposition Sebastian Lisken (CC-BY-SA 3.0), Dan Taylor (links – CC-BY 2.0, Quelle), Metropolico.org (rechts – CC-BY-SA 2.0, Quelle)

Politics (2015)

Thomas de Maizière and Hans-Peter Friedrich

Federal Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière, and former Federal Minister of the Interior, Hans-Peter Friedrich receive the BigBrotherAward in the Politics category for systematically and fundamentally sabotaging EU plans…

Laudator.in

Max Schrems