“A year ago I would have had to pay a fine if I had stepped on stage like this,” said Georg Markus Kainz, wearing a corona mask, on Sunday evening on the stage of the Vienna Rabenhof Theater. Because before Corona there was a ban on masking in Austria – “although we already knew at the time that in China, in Japan, you wear a mask when you feel cold so as not to infect others. Twelve months later I have to wear the mask, otherwise I’ll pay a fine now. We see how quickly we change the basic rules of a society. ”

Georg Markus Kainz is president of the association quintessenz, which is the Austrian Big Brother Awards now for 22. Times.

(Image: Joanna Pianka / quintessenz)

Immediately before Kainz’s appearance, the Big Brother Awards Austria were on stage 2020 was awarded to the worst data violator of the year. Kainz is president of the organizing association Quintessenz, which campaigns for the restoration of civil rights in the information age – this also included campaigning against the ban on masking. The governing parties at the time, the ÖVP and the FPÖ, were afraid of rampant crime, perpetrated by criminals allegedly hiding behind masks.

“Now we’re all wearing masks. There should actually be a sharp increase in crimes,” Kainz stated, “In truth, (the crime rate) has declined. That means the story that we were told at the time what video surveillance is for is true Not.” Surveillance technology is still being expanded. But now it is justified, for example in Innsbruck markets, with wanting to monitor minimum distances between citizens. “Only the story around it changes. Please be vigilant!”

Face recognition with non-transparent AI For the introduction of video surveillance with automatic tracking of the individual market visitors, Innsbruck’s Mayor Johannes Anzengruber (ÖVP) was for a Big Brother Award 2020, Category Authorities and administration shortlisted. But his party colleague and finance minister Mag. Gernot Blümel “won” the award. Blümel is responsible for distributing the funds from the Austrian Corona Aid Fund as well as the hardship case for small and medium-sized companies in a way that is questionable about data protection.

This fund is not administered by a federal authority, but by the Chamber of Commerce, that in Austria more than 660. 000 Companies must belong. This legal interest group now has access to the tax data of the Ministry of Finance, au