Claremont Resort and Spa
Berkeley, CA
April 21, 2004

In April, Privacy International will hold the 6th annual US Big Brother awards to celebrate the invaders and champions of privacy. The ceremony will be held at the 2004 Computers, Freedom, and Privacy Conference.

"Orwell" statutes will be presented to the government agencies, companies and initiatives which have done most to invade personal privacy. A "Lifetime Menace" award also will be presented.

Brandeis Awards will be given to champions of privacy. The Brandeis Award is named after US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who described privacy as "the right to be let alone." The awards are given to those have done exemplary work to protect and champion privacy.

Any member of the public can submit nominations for Big Brother and Brandeis Awards. The nomination period is closed, and the most popular nominees are listed below.

The winners of the awards will be selected by a judging panel made up of lawyers, academics, consultants, journalists and civil rights activists based on nominees made by the public and experts.

Any member of the public may anonymously submit a nomination by completing the nomination form.

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And the Winners Are...

On April 21, 2004, Privacy International announced the winners of the 6th Annual US "Big Brother" awards to the government and private sector organizations that have done the most to invade personal privacy in the United States.

Unfortunately, a gentleman identifying himself as "Special Agent Liddy" interrupted and blocked the Big Brother Award Ceremony. The Agent claimed that in awarding a Lifetime Menace Award to Osama Bin Laden in 2003, the Big Brother Awards had provided material support for terrorism and thus were enjoined from further ceremonies. The Master of Ceremonies thought quickly on his feet, and renamed the three Big Brother Awards for the privacy-invasive themes that are present in Franz Kakfa's The Trial. Accordingly, awards for "Perversion of Justice," "Blurring the Borders" between the public and private sectors, and a "Bureaucratic Indifference Award." Instead of the trademark boot on the head, the winners were given large rolls of red tape to symbolize the growing frustration and delay individuals are subjected to as a result of privacy-invasive security measures.

2004 US Big Brother Award Winners

MOST INVASIVE PROPOSAL Perversion of Justice Award

• MATRIX. Multi-state Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) program is a prototype database system run by the State of Florida and Seisint, a private company. Built by a consortium of state law enforcement agencies, MATRIX combines public records and private record data from multiple databases with data analysis tools. MATRIX is available to law enforcement agents in participating states, and provides a wealth of personal information in near-real time.
  • For more information, see the ACLU MATRIX Page.

GREATEST CORPORATE INVADER Blurring the Borders Award

• Northwest Airlines. In July 2002, EPIC received documents from the Transportation Security Administration in response to a FOIA request indicating that NASA met with Northwest officials in December 2001 to discuss NASA research, including the development of "non-invasive neuro-logic sensors" as well as passenger screening technology. EPIC later obtained documents confirming that Northwest gave NASA three months of passenger data for use in a data mining and passenger profiling study.
  • For more information, see EPIC's Northwest Airlines Page.

WORST PUBLIC OFFICIAL Bureaucratic Indifference Award

• Transportation Security Administration. The TSA was awarded this distinction for its operation of the "No-Fly" list, a database of individuals that is distributed to airlines for purposes of stopping or searching suspected individuals. The list has been run so poorly that many innocent travelers have been stopped, hassled, and searched every time they travel. ACLU has brought suit to challenge the list under Due Process and Fourth Amendment principles.
  • For more information, see ACLU's lawsuit against TSA for its administration of the no-fly list.

2004 Brandeis Award Winner

State Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) received the 2004 Brandeis Award. Senator Figueroa has been one of the most important state leaders on privacy. She authored California's medical privacy protections and the state's do-not-call telemarketing legislation. In 2003, she was successful in passing SB27, a law that requires offline retailers to disclose whether they sell customers' personal information to direct marketers and to allow individuals to opt-out of the sale. Her current privacy legislation includes protections against identity theft, and against the sale of children's information for direct marketing purposes.

Official Call For Nominations