There are new developments concerning the significant revelations published by Reporters United in early April, regarding the programmatic agreement between the Ministry of Health and private entities, which involves the provision of newborns’ genetic material for testing purposes and the potential creation of a biobank—as well as the complaint submitted by Homo Digitalis to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) on the matter.

On Friday, May 9, the HDPA issued a press release, stating that it has taken up the case and is awaiting the Ministry of Health’s response to a relevant official document it has sent.

On the same day, the Advisory and Compliance Tools Department of the HDPA, following up on our communication on April 25, informed Homo Digitalis that the case is currently under preliminary investigation, based on Article 57(1)(a) and (h) of the GDPR.
According to these provisions, the HDPA monitors and enforces the application of the GDPR in Greece and may conduct investigations, including those based on information received from other supervisory or public authorities.

To further raise awareness about the challenges arising from the processing of genetic data, our member Anastasios Arampatzis has prepared an article on the 23andMe case in the U.S., describing the events surrounding a major data breach affecting approximately 6.9 million users.

Read more here.