Winners | BigBrotherAwards

Image:Collage von Dennis BlomeyerAll rights reserved

Mobility (2021)

The European Commission

The BigBrotherAward 2021 in the category “Mobility” goes to the European Commission for the introduction of the “On-Board Fuel Consumption Meter” (OBFCM). The OBFCM collects an extensive amount of technical information about a…

Laudator.in

Frank Rosengart

Detailaufnahmer eines Briefs mit der persönlichen Steueridentifikationsnummer.

Image:Dennis Blomeyer CC-BY 4.0

Historical Amnesia (2020)

Conference of interior ministers of the German federal states

The conference of interior ministers of the German federal states receives the BigBrotherAward 2020 in the “Historical Amnesia” Category for their intention to create a life-long personal identification number based on the tax…

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padeluun

Schaufensterfront einer H&M-Filiale mit geöffneten Türen.

Image:Marco Verch CC-BY 2.0 Source

Workplace (2020)

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)

H&M Hennes & Mauritz B.V. & Co. KG in Hamburg receives the BigBrotherAward 2020 in the “Workplace” category for the long-standing, devious and illegal processing of employee data at the H&M customer centre in Nuremberg. H&M has…

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Prof. Dr. Peter Wedde

Image:Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg Source

Digitalisation (2020)

Minister of Education of Baden-Württemberg, Susanne Eisenmann

The education minister of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Susanne Eisenmann, receives the BigBrotherAward in the “Education” category because she intends to let Microsoft run essential services of the state’s digital…

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Leena Simon

Collage: Links ein Foto von Angela Merkel mit dem Koalitionsvertrag in der Hand, rechts zwei Soldat.innen vor mehreren Bildschirmen. Darüber der Text: „Drohnen-Angriffe via Ramstein stoppen!“.

Image:Collage von Dennis Blomeyer, Foto links: Sandro Halank CC-BY-SA 3.0 Source

Politics (2020)

German Federal Government

The BigBrotherAward 2020 in the Category “Politics” goes to The German Federal Government (supported by the coalition of the parties CDU/CSU and SPD), represented by the Chancellor, Angela Merkel (CDU), for its joint legal and…

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Dr. Rolf Gössner

Ein Gehirn mit einem Stirnband aus Plastik. Davor die Logos von BrainCo und des Leibniz Wissenschaftscampus.

Image:Collage von Dennis Blomeyer, Gehirn: _DJ_CC-BY-SA 2.0 Source

Education (2020)

BrainCo company and Leibniz Science Campus Tübingen

The company BrainCo receives the BBA in the “Education” category for its EEG headbands, which can allegedly measure students’ attention by their brain activity. The attention level is signalled by an LED on the headband and…

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Rena Tangens

Eine Autobahn, im Vordergrund der Text: „Brandenburg speichert grundlos 40.000.000 Nummernschilder.“

Image:Collage von Claudia Fischer CC-BY 4.0

Authorities & Administration (2020)

Brandenburg Interior Minister

The BigBrotherAward 2020 in the “Authorities & Administration” Category goes to the Interior Minister of the Federal State of Brandenburg, Michael Stübgen, and his predecessor Karl-Heinz Schröter for permanently storing vehicle…

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Frank Rosengart

Die Front eines Teslas. Darüber und darunter der Text: „Tesla-Autos überwachen den öffentlichen Raum“.

Image:Collage von Digitalcourage CC-BY 4.0

Mobility (2020)

Tesla

Tesla Inc., represented by Tesla Germany GmbH in Munich, receives the BigBrotherAward 2020 in the “Mobility” Category for marketing cars that extensively and perpetually surveil their passengers and car surroundings. The data…

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Dr. Thilo Weichert

Ein Stimmzettel zum Publikumspreis wird in eine Wahlurne gesteckt.

Image:Mischa Burmester CC-BY-SA 3.0

Audience Award (2019)

US services in Police networks: shocking

For the first time, our audience was given the opportunity to answer the traditional question which awardee they had found particularly “impressive, surprising, shocking, or outrageous” online as well as in the hall. Here is the…

Collage: Auf der linken Seite padeluun am Redner.innenpult der BBAs 2019. Auf der rechten Seite ein Zitat aus seiner Laudatio.

Image:Mischa BurmesterCC-BY-SA 4.0

Consumer Protection (2019)

ZEIT Online

The ZEIT newspaper’s online presence receives the BigBrotherAward 2019 in the “Consumer Protection” Category. Firstly, for using advertising trackers and the Facebook Pixel. Second, for the use of Google services in the “Germany…

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padeluun

Peter Wedde wird während der BBAs 2019 auf der Bühne interviewt. Im Hintergrund eine Menge roter Feuerlöscher.

Image:Markus BenterCC-BY-SA 4.0

Workplace (2019)

Interview – Surveillance and Privacy in the Workplace

Peter Wedde, expert for employment law, will highlight dangerous trends and trend-setting developments in a live interview. Ostensibly there were no major scandals about spying on employees in the last few years, but Peter Wedde…

Image:Mischa Burmester CC-BY-SA 4.0

Reprimands & Commendation (2019)

Apps, Health Data, Cameras

Reprimands in 2019 go to mood tracker apps, Berlin’s Public Transport Company and the Edeka-Center supermarket in Porta Westfalica. A commendation is given to the physicians’ association Freie Ärzteschaft together with IT service…

About BigBrotherAwards

In a compelling, entertaining and accessible format, we present these negative awards to companies, organisations, and politicians. The BigBrotherAwards highlight privacy and data protection offenders in business and politics, or as the French paper Le Monde once put it, they are the “Oscars for data leeches”.

Credits

More about us

Organised by (among others):

BigBrotherAwards International

The BigBrotherAwards are an international project: Questionable practices have been decorated with these awards in 19 countries so far.