Blair Tagged as Privacy Threat

London-based Privacy International announced Monday its 2003 U.K. Big Brother Awards, which the group presents annually to "the most persistent and egregious privacy invaders in Britain."

"The judges were overwhelmed this year with a vast number of malodorous nominations," Davies said in a statement. "Many politicians and companies since the Sept. 11 attacks jumped onto the security bandwagon without any justification."

Prime Minister Tony Blair came away with the top prize, winning the "Lifetime Menace" award for what the group characterized as "his active involvement in the government's attack on civil liberties."

Among other things, Blair's government has angered privacy groups with his plans to force phone companies and Internet service providers to retain users' data for 12 months as part of the country's stepped-up war on terrorism and crime.

Under the initiative, dubbed the "snooper's charter" by the national press, the government would have access to British citizens' phone numbers, e-mail addresses and the Web pages they visit. Although original plans allowed all local authorities access to said traffic data, the government recently revised (PDF) the number of functionaries who get to check the data after civil liberties groups raised concerns about the plan's privacy implications.

Additionally, four other British entities were given Privacy International's Big Brother award, which consists of a boot stomping on a man's head.

Most Invasive Company: Capita, a data management business that develops the software used in many of the government's data-mining schemes