Big Brother Watch is a non-profit

non-party An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views t ...

British civil liberties and

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

campaigning organisation. It was launched in 2009 by founding director

Alex Deane Alexander Deane (born 24 June 1979) is an English writer, political commentator and consultant. He is a regular commentator on Sky News, GB News, and formerly of BBC News, BBC ''Dateline London''. Education Deane was educated at County Upper Sch ...

to campaign against state surveillance and threats to civil liberties. It was founded by Matthew Elliott. The organisation campaigns on a variety of issues including: the rise of the surveillance state, police use of oppressive technology, freedom and privacy online, the use of intrusive communications interception powers including the

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ( c.23) (RIP or RIPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of comm ...

, and the Investigatory Powers Act, the protection of personal information and wider data protection issues. The organisation is headquartered in the China Works building,

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

, London, and previously at 55 Tufton Street, London. The name "Big Brother Watch" originates from

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalita ...

's novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'', published in 1949.

Founding

The group was established in late 2009 and the official launch took place in January 2010 with

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

and David Davis as guest speakers. Silkie Carlo is the Director, since January 2018.

Reports and campaigns

In 2012, Big Brother Watch shut down its website in protest at the

Stop Online Piracy Act The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a controversial proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on O ...

and PROTECT IP Act proposed United States legislation, warning that similar plans may be proposed in the UK. Big Brother Watch was part of the anti-surveillance coalition Don't Spy On Us, which campaigned against the proposed bulk communications collection powers and lack of judicial safeguards in the

Investigatory Powers Bill The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) (nicknamed the Snoopers' Charter) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 29 November 2016. Its different parts came into force on various dates from 30 December ...

, now Investigatory Powers Act, in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Big Brother Watch took a case against the United Kingdom, together with Open Rights Group and

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associati ...

, to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

arguing that British surveillance laws infringed British citizens'

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information a ...

. In 2017 and 2018, the organisation campaigned against police retention of innocent people's custody images (also known as mugshots) and police use of

facial recognition Facial recognition or face recognition may refer to: * Face detection, often a step done before facial recognition * Face perception, the process by which the human brain understands and interprets the face * Pareidolia, which involves, in part, se ...

technology. In 2018 they supported a debate in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

which noted the intrusive nature of this technology, the lack of a legal basis or parliamentary scrutiny, and the possibility that it may be incompatible with Article 8 right to privacy under the ECHR. In July 2018, the organisation brought a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police Service and the

Secretary of State for the Home Department The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

. In 2019, Big Brother Watch has also campaigned to protect victims of crime from 'digital strip searches' of their mobile phones by police, especially victims of sexual violence. They campaigned alongside other rights and justice groups including

End Violence Against Women End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) is a UK-based coalition of individuals and organisations which campaigns to end all forms of violence against women. It was founded in 2005 and became a registered charity 31 March 2015. History The ...

, Rape Crisis England and Wales and the Centre for Women's Justice. In 2019, Big Brother Watch investigated and succeeded in getting HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to delete over 5 million people's voice biometrics, which had been collected without people's consent or knowledge, in breach of data protection laws, from a HMRC database. It is believed to be the biggest ever deletion of biometric IDs from a state-held database. The organisation has published reports investigating police access to people's personal mobile phone information, police use of body worn cameras, surveillance technology in schools and the use of outdated communications laws to prosecute internet speech. It has carried out investigations into local authority data handling, finding more than 1000 incidents in which councils lost information about children and those in care.

Board

* Paul Strasburger, Baron Strasburger * Dinah Rose KC * Mark Littlewood *Al Ghaff *Tim Knox

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/
Official YouTube Channel
Civil liberties advocacy groups Mass surveillance Organisations based in the London Borough of Lambeth Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Privacy organizations 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom