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Stewart Baker, aka "worst public official," is undersecretary for policy at the Dept. of Homeland Security. Photo: U.S. Customs |
Big Brother Awards
Go to Privacy Invaders
Saturday, May 5, 2007
And the winner is…
The United Kingdom for “being the greatest surveillance society amongst democratic nations…”
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The dubious honor, the Big Brother Award, was given to Britain by Privacy International on Wednesday (May 2, 2007) at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Montreal, Canada. The trophy, which is nicknamed the “Orwell” depicts a boot stomping on the head of a man, the iconic image of the future in George Orwell’s book 1984. The U.K. won the "Orwell" for the "most heinous government" category.
In 2002, Privacy International Director Simon Davies said the “UK demonstrates a pathology of antagonism toward privacy.” Not much has changed, according to Davies.
The other “winners” were:
Choicepoint for the most invasive company category. The credit reporting company won because of its “vast databases of personal data, sold to nearly anyone who wishes to pay.”
Stewart Baker in the worst public official category. Baker is the “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.”
Baker previously described his Big Brother system, called the Automated Targeting System, by saying this:
“When people buy plane tickets, they give the airline some information - names, passport numbers, frequent-flyer numbers, credit cards, and so on. DHS collects this information from the airlines and uses ATS to do screening for dangerous people. ATS runs the travelers' names against lists of known or suspected terrorists. It can also do a quick link analysis, looking for travelers who gave the airline a phone number that's also used by a known terrorist.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization for the most appalling project or technology. The United Nations-based ICAO won for “implementing a variety of invasive policies behind closed doors, including the ‘biometric passport’ and passenger data transfer deals.”
The “Common Good” for the lifetime menace award. “Common Good” won because “every bad policy around the world” states individuals must sacrifice their rights in favor “of the needs of the many.”
