Big Brother Awards

I came across this last week that I thought was quite fun. The International Big Brother Awards handed out by Privacy International to privacy invaders.

Most invasive company was Choicepoint, for their vast databases of personal data, sold to nearly anyone who wishes to pay.

Worst public official was Stewart Baker, former general counsel for the National Security Agency and now undersecretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, behind and at the forefront of most disastrous U.S. surveillance policies, most recently the EU-U.S. agreement on Passenger Name Records transfers.

Most heinous government was The United Kingdom, for being the greatest surveillance society amongst democratic nations, rivaling only Malaysia, China and Russia as it also leads other countries across the EU down its same path.

Most appalling project or technology was International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency, for implementing a variety of invasive policies behind closed doors, including the 'biometric passport' and passenger data transfer-deals.

Lifetime menace award went to “communitarianism” and the proponents of the 'Common Good', because every bad policy around the world is justified based on the philosophy that is good for society and the individual must sacrifice his or her selfish rights in favour of the needs of the many.

You should read more to see who came second, third, etc...