Avoiding regulation of biometric surveillance and loyalty applications: The 20th Big Brother Awards took place in the Czech Republic

Big Brother Awards for the biggest invasions of privacy in the Czech Republic

EDRi member IuRe (Iuridicum Remedium), recently hosted the 20th instalment of its Big Brother Awards. The winners were selected by a jury of journalists, IT experts and lawyers. In a printed publication, IuRe also reflected on twenty years of privacy protection. This year’s awards related to biometric surveillance, snooping on customers, data collection on tourists, and “Pay or Okay” practices. Besides highlighting privacy violations, the ceremony also included a “Positive Privacy” award.

“Long-term Stalker” award

The jury awarded the “Long-term Stalker” award to the Czech Ministry of the Interior for trying to circumvent the regulation of facial recognition systems. The European Artificial Intelligence Act prohibits, with few exceptions, automated real-time facial recognition in public spaces. However, the Ministry of the Interior has submitted a draft amendment to the Czech implementing law that negates the restrictions on biometric surveillance. It skips the need for each individual use of such a system to be authorised by an independent court, as required by the European Regulation.

Unless Czech MPs or senators put a stop to the proposal, IuRe expects to see further legislation from the Ministry of the Interior that is contrary to European law, similar to the Czech data retention regulation.

“Corporate Snoopers” award

“The Corporate Snoopers” award went to large retail chains for their “discount apps”. These involve the extensive collection of personal data and its subsequent use. Data on purchases and app usage can be used to learn about eating habits, family size and structure, pet ownership, economic situation, and other personal information.

In the award justification, the organisers quote Albert CEO Jasper Lauridsen, who compared discount apps to Netflix and Spotify. They referenced a quote of him from 2023 in which he said: “If you buy one thing, you might also be interested in another, because we know there is a connection between them”.

“Official Snooper” award

The Ministry of Regional Development has won the “Official Snooper” award. The Ministry of Regional Development has prepared a draft amendment to the Tourism Act, which introduces a unified system for the registration of accommodated persons: the so-called eTurista system. According to the jury, however, the new centralised database of lodgers represents a unique source of information on who has been accommodated, where, when and with whom. This data is to be kept for up to several years.

Although this is a system that will process a huge volume of sensitive data, there was also no mandatory data protection impact assessment before entering the legislative process, as required by law.

“Big Brother’s Statement” award

The “Big Brother’s Statement” award for 2024 went to Matěj Hušek, a member of the Board of Directors of Seznam.cz. Seznam is a Czech search engine, news portal and e-mail provider. A representative of this dominant Czech website said that, “The Internet without targeting and without recommendation is actually a terribly sad place.”

According to the jury, with this statement Hušek is trying to motivate users to agree to the collection of data and have content and advertising accurately targeted at them. Meanwhile, the legality of the “Pay or Ok” practice is currently being disputed, with the Office for Personal Data Protection preliminarily banning similar consent collection by Seznam in November 2024.

“Positive Privacy” award

The “Positive Privacy” award went to the Wikimedia Foundation for protecting the identity of Wikipedia editors. The tools Wikimedia uses to protect editors have been developed over time to protect editors in repressive dictatorial or autocratic regimes. Recently, however, the protection of Wikipedia editors has become an increasingly hot topic even in democratic countries, where pressure is being put on editors in an attempt to influence the content of specific articles and entries. In the United States, the Heritage Foundation is attacking editors in this way.

Commenting on the award, Rebecca MacKinnon, Vice President of Global Advocacy at the Wikimedia Foundation, said: “The Wikimedia Foundation has been working for many years to identify risks and provide editors with the support they need to protect themselves. We remain committed to protecting the well-being of contributors who continue to add, revise and improve information on Wikipedia to make it reliable and reflect diverse perspectives.”

IuRe also published a blog post with photos from the 20th anniversary of the Czech Big Brother Awards.

Contribution by: EDRi member, IuRe (Iuridicum Remedium)