Are you in Amsterdam in October for the Amsterdam Privacy Conference, the Privacy Law Scholars Conference (both academia) or the International Privacy Conference (regulators)? But do you miss the perspective of civil society on this issue? Bits of Freedom invites you to the Dutch Big Brother Awards on October 28 in the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, the classical theater venue in the heart of the city center. The evening will have surtitels in English, to make sure you don’t have to miss a thing. You can get your tickets now. We hope to see you there!

General information

Every year, the Big Brother Awards pays tribute to the creme de la creme of privacy offenders. Individuals, corporations and governments who have distinguished themselves the past year by grossly infringing on citizens’ privacy and freedom have a shot at taking home either the Audience Award or the Expert Award. Hereby Bits of Freedom asks your attention for the state of affairs concerning the right to privacy in the Netherlands. The next Big Brother Awards will take place on Wednesday October 28, 2015 at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. Leading up to the Awards, the audience has the opportunity to nominate candidates. Those who get the most mentions will make up the shortlist and be in the run for the Audience Award. From this shortlist, the audience chooses the final winner. Additionally, an Expert Award is presented in order to draw attention to privacy infringements that may not have received as much consideration in the media or from the larger audience. Bits of Freedom relies on academics, columnists, activists and professionals to put forward nominees. The winners of the 2014 Dutch Big Brother Awards were the Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten (Audience Award) and the Dutch Schools (Expert Award).

Program

Click for the program of the Dutch 2015 Big Brother Awards on October 28.

Press

Would you like to attend the Big Brother Awards, or interview one of the attendees? Or do you need background information for an article or an item? We are happy to help. Please contact Daphne van der Kroft: +31 6 4280 0968, Daphne.vanderKroft@bof.nl. On busy you can contact Rejo Zenger: +31 (0)6 3964 2738, Rejo.Zenger@bof.nl. If you’d like, we can also add you to our English press mailing list. This is the easiest way to stay up to date on developments on Internet freedom in the Netherlands.

Previous editions

Are you curious as to who won the Big Brother Awards in previous years? You can find jury reports, photo impressions and media reports on the Big Brother Awards websites, accessible through our archive.

International

The first Big Brother Awards was held as early as 1998 and was organized by Privacy International in the United Kingdom. Ever since, the event has been organized in countries all over the world.

The name

The awards get their name from the totalitarian, all-seeing leader ‘Big Brother’ from the novel 1984 by George Orwell.

Organization by Bits of Freedom

The Dutch Big Brother Awards are organized by Bits of Freedom, an independent civil rights movement that stands up for freedom of communication and privacy on the Internet. These civil rights are indispensable for everyone’s personal freedom,  for civil innovation and for democracy and the rule of law. But Internet freedom is not a given. Personal data is retained and analyzed. Internet traffic is analyzed, throttled and blocked. The strength of Bits of Freedom lies in combining a broad range of expertise, a constructive lobby where possible, and sharp action where necessary The Big Brother Awards are an example of the latter. More information on Bits of Freedom can be found on their website, www.bof.nl.

Help out

The previous ten outstanding editions of the Big Brother Awards could only take place because of the help we received from our incredible volunteers. This year will be no different: we need your help! To fulfill, for instance, the following roles:

• Welcoming visitors and speakers before the ceremony – October 28 at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam;
• Keeping track of the Big Brother Awards in the media – prior to and after October 28;
• Taking pictures during the ceremony – October 28 at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam.
• (Live) translating (Dutch to English) the keynote and other parts of the ceremony – October 28 at Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam

These are only a few of the ways in which you could help. Are you interested in putting your skills to good use and help us organize the Big Brother Awards? Please send an e-mail to Evelyn Austin: Evelyn.Austin@bof.nl.

Made possible by

The 2015 Big Brother Awards are made possible by the ceaseless effort of volunteers prior to and during the ceremony. Already, a big thank you goes out to them! We would also like to thank the  Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam for letting us use their wonderful theater and Engage! TV for realizing a live stream of the event.

Contact

Would you like to get in touch? Send us a message on Twitter @bitsoffreedom or email either Daphne van der Kroft, Daphne.vanderKroft@bof.nl or Evelyn Austin, Evelyn.Austin@bof.nl.