Finnish Big Brother 2005 Awards to the Council of Ministers of the EU, to
gossip magazines, and to Ms Tanja Karpela
Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI) awarded this year for the third time
ever the Finnish Big Brother Awards to parties responsible for the worst
privacy intrusions of the year. The purpose of the tongue-in-cheek award
ceremony is to draw public attention to serious threats to privacy originating
from public and private sectors alike. The concept is originally from the UK
and is arranged in thirteen countries this year.
The winners are chosen by an annually changing panel of experts. This
year’s panel was chaired by MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi and comprised of MP
Heidi Hautala, Internet pioneer Johan Helsingius, legal researcher
Juha Lavapuro, professor of European justice Tuomas Ojanen, editor
Ruben Stiller and information society philosophist Tere Vadén.
The Finnish Big Brother Awards were awarded in three different categories:
- Big Brother Award for Intrusions to Privacy, Public Sector Series
- Big Brother Award for Intrusions to Privacy, Private Sector Series
- Big Brother Award for Advancing Irresponsible Precensorship
In addition to the three Big Brother Awards, a positive Winston Smith Award
was awarded to a person highly distinguished as a defender of privacy. Winners
and runner-up finalists are introduced below.
Before the award ceremony EFFI organised a half-day seminar on
fundamental rights and privacy in EU legislation. Security,
supervision, mandatory data retention and the EU constitutional
treaty were among the topics discussed and presented.
Big Brother 2005 Finalists and winners
BIG BROTHER AWARD FOR INTRUSIONS TO PRIVACY, PUBLIC SECTOR SERIES
Finalists:
a.. Council of Ministers of the EU: For brave and
unyielding efforts to push through mandatory telecom data retention
regardless of citizens’ critique
(see. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/ europe/4335058.stm)
b.. EU comission: Disregarding bothersome EU privacy legislation in
order to enable air travel passenger records to be forwarded to US
authorities
(see. http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/ uutiset/tuoreet/artikkeli/ Julkisasiamies+Lentotietojen+luovutus+USAhan+laitonta/ 1101981710097)
c.. Safety Rhetoric: For being a useful excuse to curb fundamental
rights, privacy in particular
(as an example, prime minister Matti Vanhanen was quoted: “In the
fight against terrorism, individual quiet years are not an indication
of safety returning. Silence is rather a sign indicating that the
next attack is being prepared somewhere.” Matti Vanhanen, Turun
Sanomat 15.7.2005)
Winner: Council of Mininsters of the EU
BIG BROTHER AWARD FOR INTRUSIONS TO PRIVACY, PRIVATE SECTOR SERIES
Finalists:
a.. Gossip magazines, especially A-lehdet Oy’s KATSO!-magazine: For
satisfying the fundamental right to curiosity by promoting privatised
supervision and spying, and for efficiently publishing private
information
(as an example, the web page of the KATSO! magazine was quoted:
“Are you aware of a good gossip about a celebrity? Did you take a hot
paparazzi photo? CALL KATSO! MAGAZINE! WE PAY THE MOST – 50 000 EUR
FOR THE TIP OF THE YEAR!” http://www.katso.fi/paluukanava/vihjepuhelin/)
b.. Sony BMG Music Entertainment: For a second generation copy
protection system so advanced that it reveals the company when and
where a record is listened to
(see. Helsingin Sanomat 17.11.2005, B10 Talous, “Copy protection
eats data security in Finland too”)
c.. Color printer manufacturers (Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP,
Konica/Minolta, Kyocera, Lanier, Lexmark, Ricoh, Savin and Xerox): For
adding secret identification codes to color printouts, enabling
convenient supervision by authorities
(see. http://www.tietokone.fi/uutta/ uutinen.asp?news_id=25007&tyyppi=1)
Winner: Gossip magazines, especially
A-lehdet Oy’s KATSO!
BIG BROTHER AWARD FOR ADVANCING IRRESPONSIBLE PRECENSORSHIP
Finalists:
a.. Minister of Culture Ms Tanja Karpela: For steadfastly promoting
a questionable Internet blocking software whilst managing not to
discuss its problems
(see. http://www.ylioppilaslehti.fi/ 2005/050422/karpelanlaki.html)
b.. Ministers of Transport and Communications Ms Leena Luhtanen and
Ms Susanna Huovinen: For laudable attempts to filter Internet traffic
using a secret list maintenanced by the police
(see. http://www2.effi.org/julkaisut/ tiedotteet/lehdistotiedote-2005-08-29.html)
c.. President Vladimir Putin and the Finnish security police: For
pioneering Internet censorship especially in the case of the
Kavkazcenter.com Chechen website
(see. http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/ english/article/1076154535007)
Winner: Minister of Culture Ms Tanja Karpela
POSITIVE WINSTON SMITH AWARD FOR A DISTINGUISHED DEFENDER OF PRIVACY
Finalists:
a.. Human rights advocate Mr Matti Wuori: For long-standing merits
in advancing privacy and other fundamental rights, posthumously
(see. http://www.mattiwuori.net/ juttu.php?osio=4&id=265, http://www.mattiwuori.net/ juttu.php?osio=2&id=422)
b.. Hacker Mr Matti Nikki: For his instrumental part in revealing
the call-back functionality of the Sony BMG copy protection and other
related merits
(http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/ more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html (see. Sony’s Player Phones Home), http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/ 05/11/17/1350209.shtml?tid=188&tid=158, http://hack.fi/~muzzy/lapsiporno/)
c.. MP Mr Jyrki Kasvi: For relentlessly defending
online privacy in the Finnish parliament
(See. http://www.eduskunta.fi/faktatmp/ utatmp/kk_332_2005_p.htm)
Winner: Human rights advocate Mr Matti Wuori, posthumously
Program of the seminar
Date: December 7th 2005 from 2PM till 7PM
Location: Finlandia house, Terrace room, Mannerheimintie 13, doors M4
and K4
2:00PM Opening of the event: Ville Oksanen, EFFI
2:15PM Panel: How to balance economically security and
privacy in telecommunication?
- Kari Wirman, preparation manager, central organisation for telecom and IT, FiCom
- Jari Perko, managing director, Finnish Direct Marketers’ Association
- Tere Vadén, docent, university of Tampere
Discussion
3:00PM Break (coffee)
3:20PM Panel: Mandatory data retention and Finland
- Tuomas Ojanen, professor of European justice, university of Turku
- Jouko Huhtamäki, negotiating servant, ministry of internal affairs
- Juha-Pekka Ristola, net communication manager, ministry of traffic and communication
Discussion
4:00PM Panel: European parliament, privacy and fundamental rights
- Piia-Noora Kauppi, MEP, EPP-ED
- Heidi Hautala, presidential candidate, Green League of Finland
- Johan Helsingius, Internet pioneer
5:00PM Snack and wine served
6:00PM FINNISH BIG BROTHER 2005 AWARD CEREMONY
Additional information
Big Brother Awards International
The Finnish Big Brother Awards trophy, representing a boot stepping on a citizen’s head (larger picture)