LSE Information Systems Group hosts the third annual Big Brother Awards on 4 December

Nominees include BT, Jack Straw, UK Info Disc, TV Licensing and Anne Widdicombe.

On 4 December, the human rights group Privacy International will present the third annual 'Big Brother awards' to the government and private sector organisations that have done the most to invade personal privacy in Britain.

The awards will be bestowed at a special event at the London School of Economics. Awards will also be given to individuals and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to the protection of privacy. The event is being hosted by the Information Systems Group at LSE, and is organised by Privacy International, a London-based civil rights group which for the past decade has raised awareness around the world about privacy threats ranging from military surveillance to workplace drug testing.

The awards will be presented by Channel 4's Mark Thomas. The gold awards - in the shape of a boot stamping on a human head - will be presented in five categories. The judges have announced the shortlist nominees.

Most invasive company

The award in this category will be a fiercely fought contest between I-CD Publishing, which created the reverse directory CD 'UK Info Disk'; the Visionics Corporation, responsible for the new generation of CCTV automatic face recognition software; and Envision Licensing Ltd, the organisation behind Britain's TV Licensing regime.

Most appalling project

The lead contender in this category is the government's 'email snooping' legislation - the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act. Other short-listed nominees include the Landlordsdata.com database, which offers an online blacklist of tenants; and the national DNA Database.

Most heinous government organisation

This will be a contest between our old favourite the Home Office, the Department of Trade and Industry (for giving employers the green light to snoop on their staff), and the Department of Customs and Excise.

Worst public servant

Jack Straw was consistently nominated for this category, but as he won it last year, we are reluctant to give him another boot (so he is nominated below for Lifetime Menace). Anne Widdicombe was not far behind. Charles Clarke made the shortlist for his shepherding of the RIP legislation.

Lifetime menace award

Jack Straw is so far ahead of the field that the others will have a near impossible task beating him. Other short-listed nominees are British Telecom, for a litany of privacy violations reaching back more than 20 years, and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) for unjustified and unwarranted endemic communications surveillance. The 2000 awards will be judged by a panel of experts consisting of lawyers, academics, consultants, journalists and civil rights activists.

The Big Brother Awards have also been staged as an annual event in the United States, France, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Privacy International's Director, Simon Davies, said privacy invasion in Britain has become 'a vast industry that threatens the rights of everyone in Britain.' 'Privacy will be the most important civil liberties issue for the new century, and we intend showing its importance by outing the privacy invaders.'

For further information contact Simon Davies, s.g.davies@lse.ac.uk, tel: +44 (0)7958 466 552.

The Big Brother Awards Ceremony is open and free of charge. People wanting to attend should contact Simon Davies.

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