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London, 25 March 2003
On
March 25, 2002, Privacy International announced the winners
of the 5th Annual
UK "Big Brother" awards to the government and private sector
organisations that have done the most to invade personal privacy
in Britain.
Four "Big
Brother" awards were presented to the individuals, organizations,
and departments which have done most to invade personal privacy.
A "lifetime menace" award was given to an invader with
a long history of attacking privacy. A new award: "Dog Poo on
a Stick" was also given.
"Winston" awards were also given
to individuals and organisations which have made an outstanding
contribution to the protection of privacy, as well as to people
who have been victims of privacy invasion.
Privacy International's
Director, Simon Davies, said the award winners reflected the "prolonged and vicious" attack
on the right to privacy. He said privacy invasion in Britain
has become "a vast industry that threatens the rights of
everyone in Britain".
"
The judges were overwhelmed this year with a vast number of malodorous
nominations. Many politicians and companies have since the September
11th attacks jumped onto the security bandwagon without any justification".
He added "The UK Government is attempting to systematically extinguish the
right to privacy. Their plans should be resisted by everyone who cares about
freedom".
2003 Winners and Runners Up
WORST PUBLIC SERVANT
KEN LIVINGSTONE.
David Blunkett was consistently nominated for this category,
but his transgressions against
personal
privacy have been so grave that the judges also unanimously
promoted him to the Lifetime Menace (see below). He competed
with Ken Livingston (nominated because of his obsession with
travel and transport surveillance), and the government's
secretive "Interception
of Communications" Commissioner, Sir Swinton Thomas.
MOST INVASIVE COMPANY
CAPITA. This
category was a contest between Capita (the company behind
many of the government's
most controversial surveillance and data management
schemes), Argos, which (among other transgressions)
has participated
in a customer thumb-printing scheme, and the
credit reference giant Experian, which won the company category
award in
1999. Capita won because of its long standing
involvement
in a vast range of government projects, which it
often has botched.
MOST APPALLING PROJECT
PIU DATA SHARING REPORT.
The government's discredited Entitlement Card proposal went
head-to-head
with the "Data Sharing" scheme
shepherded by the government's Performance & Innovation
Unit. The judges felt the Entitlement card idea was just
too stupid, woolly and nebulous to win. The other short-listed
nomination was Electronic Voting.
MOST HEINOUS GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION
ASSOCIATION
OF CHIEF POLICE OFFICERS (ACPO) This was
a fiercely fought contest between our old favourite the
Home Office, and two newcomers: the Lord Chancellor's Department
and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
ACPO
won because it has recently gone beyond merely being a patsy
for
bad government policy, and has taken a more active role
in developing and promoting invasive schemes.
LIFETIME MENACE
TONY BLAIR This
was a fiercely contested category, but Tony Blair was always
slightly ahead of the
field because of his active involvement in the government's
attack
on
civil liberties. David Blunkett was close on his
heels. Capita becomes
the second company ever to make it to the Lifetime
Menace category.
NEW AWARD: DOG POO ON A STICK.
Each year the judges
consider a nomination that is so odious and contemptible
that they are
reluctant to agree to spending scarce money on an expensive
gold award for the villain. These occasions deserve an appropriate
award, and so this year we give the first "Dog Poo On A
Stick" prize. It goes to David Blunkett.
Privacy International
also gave a "Dishonourable Mention" to the Office
of the Information Commissioner, and accused the office of
complacency and dereliction of duty. "Because of its consistent
failure to adequately promote and protect the principles of
privacy the Office is rapidly becoming part of the problem" said
Mr Davies. Winston Awards
On a more upbeat and
encouraging note, the judges each year give a number of Winston
Awards to individuals
and organisations who have made an outstanding contribution
to the protection of rights and privacy. This year those winners
are:
- Posthumously,
to the greatly respected Dr Roger Needham
- Teri Dowty,
Joint national coordinator, Childrens Rights Alliance for
England and Wales
- Marion Chester,
Legal Director, Association of Community Health Councils
of England and Wales
- STAND
- Richard
Norton-Taylor and Stuart Millar of the Guardian
- Undercurrents
Privacy International offers its best wishes and gratitude
to these champions of privacy. Their contribution
has made a huge difference to the defence
of rights in the UK.
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