The date 28 January is the European Data Protection Day which marks the adoption of Convention 108 of the Council of Europe for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data. On 26th of April 2006 the date January 28th was declared as an International Data Privacy Day by a decision of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The General Data Protection Regulation becomes mandatory applicable in the legislation of all Member States of the EU from 25 May 2018.
More about the Big Brother campaign in Bulgaria and the winners could be found on the web site: https://bigbrotherawards.bg/.
2023 Big Brother Anti-Awards
On the occasion of the European Data Protection Day Access to Information Programme and Internet Society Bulgaria held the Big Brother anti-awards ceremony in Bulgaria on January 28, 2023.
Ttraditionally, the anti-awards are given to government institutions and private companies, who have done the most to invade personal privacy and the personal data protection.
The winner of the Big Brother 2023 anti-award for violation of the privacy and personal data is Political Party “Vazrazhdane” for publishing the personal identification numbers (EGN) of more than 800 Bulgarian citizens aiming to be stigmatized and declared as spies.
The National Revenue Agency, the Ministry of Education and Science, and DSK Bank were the other listed among the nominated organizations for the Big Brother 2023 Anti-Award.
The name of the award is inspired by the famous anti-utopian novel by George Orwell. The phrase "Big Brother is watching you" refers to invasive surveillance, limiting the personal freedom. The symbol of the anti-award is a military boot which is crushing a human head.
The BigBrother Awards in Bulgaria takes place since 2002. In 2023 two European Big Brother Awards ceremonies were scheduled: in Bulgaria and in Germany.