The Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference (or CFP, or the Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy) is an annual

academic conference An academic conference or scientific conference (also congress, symposium, workshop, or meeting) is an Convention (meeting), event for researchers (not necessarily academics) to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with academic jou ...

held in the United States or Canada about the intersection of

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

technology,

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

, 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 ...

issues. The conference was first held in 1991 in Burlingame, California. Since at least 1999, it has been organized under the aegis of the

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...

. It was originally sponsored by CPSR. Attendees include high-level government officials, grassroots advocates, and programmers. The first annual US Big Brother Awards were made at CFP99 on Wednesday 7 April 1999, the 50th aniversiary of the publication of George Orwell's

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

. The awards were made by the London-based

Privacy International Privacy International (PI) is a UK-based registered charity that defends and promotes the right to privacy across the world. First formed in 1990, registered as a non-profit company in 2002 and as a charity in 2012, PI is based in London. Its ...

to recognize "the government and private sector organizations which have done the most to invade personal privacy in the United States." Simon Davies, managing director of Privacy International, presented the awards, otherwise known as Orwells. There were five categories of award: Greatest Corporate Invader, Lifetime Menace, Most Invasive Program, People's Choice, and Worst Public Official.{{cite news , title=Orwell's Legacy: Big Brother Awards , first1=Niala , last1=Boodhoo , work=PC World , date=8 April 1999 , url=http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,10441,00.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508055915/http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0%2C1510%2C10441%2C00.html , archive-date=8 May 1999 , access-date=25 Jul 2014 , url-status=dead

References

External links

Official site
Computer conferences Recurring events established in 1991 Association for Computing Machinery Privacy organizations Privacy in the United States