4 million euros were spent by the Greek Police to issue fines related to violations of the Road Traffic Code
Back in 2019, we started one of our first actions in the field of artificial intelligence by bringing to light the Smart Policing program of the Greek Police in collaboration with Intracom-Telecom.
The purpose of this project? The purchase of 1,000 portable devices that would enable functions like facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, document identification, and license plate recognition in urban centers during police checks.
We acted promptly and, in March 2020, requested the Data Protection Authority to investigate the matter, as, according to our legal analysis, processing biometric data in the context of using these devices would not be legal.
Since August 2020, the Authority has been investigating the case. The State paid the 4 million euros, and the company delivered the devices to the Hellenic Police. The latest development was in October 2024, when the Hellenic Police decided, starting from the first quarter of 2025, to use the document/license plate recognition functions of the devices to issue fines for violations of the Road Traffic Code.
We are glad that our swift action and the investigation by the Data Protection Authority froze the use of the invasive facial recognition and fingerprint scanning functions of these devices. However, the relevant decision by the Authority must be published immediately.
The 4.5 years of investigation by the Data Protection Authority also reveal that the state must support the Data Protection Authority, as the high level of expertise of its inspectors is not enough, and more human and financial resources are needed. And all this without considering the increased workload expected in the coming years with the AI Act.
You can read more about this in our latest study on the AI Act, pages 51-54 here.
Homo Digitalis wore the vest of love participating in the "Seller for an Hour" action of the street magazine "Shedia
On Wednesday, February 5th, Homo Digitalis had the great honor of wearing the vest of love, participating in the awareness-raising action of the street magazine “Shedia.”
At the end of the “Seller for an Hour” action, we would like to extend a big thank you to all the people of Shedia, with whom we had the opportunity to learn about their important initiatives, and to jointly send a message against social exclusion and in favor of solidarity.
You can learn more about the important work and the people of the Shedia magazine here.
Interview of Our President at Women in Digital
Elpida Vamvaká, President of Homo Digitalis and General Legal Counsel at Papaki, spoke to Women in Digital about the need to protect digital rights in Greece, the importance of technology that places people at the center, and the ways in which artificial intelligence can operate responsibly and ethically.
With a focus on the challenges of cybersecurity, the importance of education, and the promotion of gender equality in the tech field, Elpida highlights her vision for a fair, sustainable, and inclusive digital society in her interview. You can read her interview here.
Women In Digital is the editorial and conference initiative of Smarpress. The foundation was laid with the first Women In Digital conference on 8/3/21, where 40 prominent “strong women” from Technology, IT, Startups, and Digital Marketing took the stage. Readers can follow the content through the monthly newsletter or the dedicated website. WID draws its topics from the work of women, both Greek and international, who are active in the STEM sector or apply their digital skills in more traditional fields.
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority Investigates DeepSeek
In a letter addressed to Homo Digitalis on February 5, following our January 30, 2025 request, the Audit and Security Department and the rapporteur auditor, Ms. F. Karvela, informed us that the Authority “has already initiated an ex officio investigation into the companies Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., in accordance with the provisions of Articles 57(1)(a), 58(1)(b) of the GDPR and Articles 13(1)(h) and 15(1) of Law 4624/2019.”
We eagerly await further information regarding the HDPA’s ex officio investigation, the progress of the procedure, and any developments in this case in the near future.
The sixth open call of NGI TALER is here! Submit your application!
Got a groundbreaking idea for free software and privacy preserving projects that complement our mission as NGI TALER? Missed our first 5 funding calls? No worries!
NGI TALER’s 6th Open Call is live since 1st of February 2025 and you’ve got almost two month to apply. The deadline is 1st of April 2025, 12:00 CET (noon).
We’re on the lookout for proposals that will revolutionize digital payment systems and contribute to an open, trustworthy, and reliable internet for all.
NGI TALER is offering funding between 5,000 and 50,000 euros! Whether you’re a SME, academic, public sector entity, nonprofit, community, or an individual – we want your innovative ideas!
For example, you can enhance GNU Taler by developing auxiliary tools, improving user experience,creating integrations into FOSS applications (think P2P micropayments in instant messaging, social media platforms, or video conferencing tools), or boosting infrastructure components (like merchant backends), to name a few ideas.
For more info about this and other NGI funding calls, you can visit the NGI – The Next Generation Internet’s website here.
You can read the detailed Open Call, Guide for Applicants, Eligibility Requirements, and FAQs on NLnet Foundation’s website here
Last but not least, you can join our TALER Integration Community Hub (TALER ICH) to discuss and get your questions answered here.
Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity!
NGI TALER is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
We Gave the Most Interesting Interview to the Students of the Nikaias Primary School in Larissa for Data Protection Day
One of the most delightful and wonderful ways we celebrated World Data Protection Day was the online interview given by Lamprini Giftokosta from our team to the fifth-grade class of Nikaias Primary School in Larissa on January 28th! The questions were MANY!!!… ranging from what personal data means, what we are celebrating today, to whether artificial intelligence has a mind, if it knows everything, or if it makes mistakes.
The interview took place as part of a school competition in which the young journalists are participating. We eagerly await the article they will publish and wish them the best of luck!!!
We sincerely thank the educator Vili Karayiorgou and the Nikaias Primary School in Larissa for the flawless cooperation in this initiative.
Press Release DEMOCRACY WITH NO AIR The State of the Rule of Law in Greece Today
On Tuesday 4 February, a Press Conference on the current state of the Rule of Law in Greece was successfully held at the Athens Bar Association with a significant turnout. The event was organised by the independent organisations Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), HIAS Greece, Homo Digitalis, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Reporters United, Solomon, and Vouliwatch.
You can watch the Press Conference here.
We warmly thank omniatv for organising and hosting the event.
The event was moderated by journalist Natasa Giamali. Representatives of the collaborating organisations presented the main points of the joint report submitted for the third consecutive year to the European Commission on the Rule of Law in Greece in 2024. This submission is part of the Commission’s annual review of national systems.
The speakers emphasised the key systemic issues undermining the Rule of Law in Greece. These issues, coupled with the growing authoritarianism in politics and attacks on human rights, cast a dark shadow over democracy, posing significant threats.
The urgency of the organisations’ call to the European Commission was also highlighted, pressing a shift in its approach and the need to focus not on the state’s “commitments” or “intentions” but on the accurate depiction of the situation in the country. Systematic violations of the fundamental principles of the Rule of Law must not be treated as isolated incidents.
Alexandros Mantzoutsos, Counselor and former Vice President of the Athens Bar Association, delivered a brief greeting.
Key presentations of the report
Stefanos Loukopoulos, Director of Vouliwatch:
“When the State itself undermines principles, procedures, and institutional counterweights through authoritarianism, impunity, and legal inconsistency, it fuels citizens’ distrust in institutions and leads, with mathematical certainty, to societal authoritarianism, with incalculable consequences for the future of Democracy.”
Minos Mouzourakis, lawyer at Refugee Support Aegean (RSA):
“There is a common thread connecting the Tempi train crash, the Pylos shipwreck, the wiretapping of politicians and journalists, the violent disappearances of refugees in Evros and the Aegean, and police brutality: the inability of the Greek justice system to fulfil its duty to attribute responsibility for arbitrariness and criminal offences perpetrated by the state.”
Additional statements from representatives of the other organisations
Alexandros Konstantinou, Lawyer, Greek Council for Refugees (GCR):
“Recently, the European Court of Human Rights found for the first time the ineffectiveness of the Greek criminal justice system in investigating pushback cases (A.R.E. v. Greece, Judgment of 7 January 2025). These cases, involving unlawful actions by state authorities, strike at the core of the Rule of Law. This finding by the Court comes at a time when issues of accountability and justice are central to public discourse and should seriously concern all relevant state bodies, including the Greek Judiciary.”
Elli Kriona-Saranti, Lawyer, HIAS Greece:
“The trend of abusive criminalisation of migrants, human rights defenders and lawyers as smugglers persists, despite continued objections from national, international and European human rights bodies.”
Thodoris Chondrogiannos, Journalist, Reporters United:
“The wiretapping scandal highlights the systemic flaws in the Rule of Law amidst systematic violations of the constitutionally guaranteed confidentiality of communications: Government attacks against the President of ADAE, judicial harassment of its members, the violation of the enhanced majority requirement of the Conference of Presidents of Parliament (⅗) for replacing ADAE members and preventing sanctions against the National Intelligence Service (EYP), the obstruction of investigating the joint EYP-Predator center, and the ‘legalisation’ of surveillance against ministers, politicians, journalists, and military officials, the violation of the obligation of EYP to immediately inform ADAE, and lawsuits against journalists.”
Danai Maragoudaki, Journalist, Solomon:
“The excessive concentration of major media outlets in the hands of a few powerful business-people, the interdependence of the media, the state, and the banks, and the inability of regulatory authorities to ensure the necessary level of transparency create a suffocating operating environment that undermines not only pluralism but democracy as a whole in the country.”
Katerina Pournara, Lawyer, Vice President of the Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR):
“In a period when trust in democratic institutions is shaken by incidents such as the Tempi train crash and the Pylos shipwreck, unreasonable and unlawful police violence not only threatens individual freedoms but also undermines democracy, fostering the authoritarianism of state institutions.”
Lamprini Gyftokosta, Director of Human Rights & Artificial Intelligence, Homo Digitalis:
“The protection of personal data is a fundamental right and a critical issue for democracy and transparency in our country. The fines imposed by the Data Protection Authority, amounting to €775,000 on three Ministries in 2024 alone, highlight the non-compliance of state bodies with existing legislation, undermining the Rule of Law and deepening citizens’ mistrust in institutions.”
| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
| FULL REPORT |
Request of Homo Digitalis before the Hellenic Personal Data Protection Authority (HDPA) to Investigate Deepseek: Our Statements in the Newspaper "Kathimerini"
On Thursday, November 30th, Homo Digitalis submitted a request (reference number 865/30-01-2025) to the Hellenic Personal Data Protection Authority (HDPA), asking for the exercise of its investigative powers regarding the use of the Deepseek platform by data subjects within the Greek territory, in accordance with Article 58 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The request is available here (ΕL).
In recent days, the Deepseek platform has become particularly popular among users within the Greek territory due to related media publications. Supervisory authorities from other EU member states, such as the Italian and Irish supervisory authorities, have already taken significant interventions to limit the use of the platform. This is because, based on the data processing practices taking place and the way they are described in its Privacy Policy, serious challenges to the protection of users’ personal data are apparent.
In the request we submitted, we are asking the HDPA, in accordance with Article 58(1)(a) and Article 58(2)(f) of the GDPR, to instruct the data controllers, namely Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. and Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., to provide all the information necessary to perform its duties in order to clarify the challenges to the rights of the data subjects we highlight in our submission. Furthermore, we request the HDPA to immediately impose restrictions on the processing of personal data of users within the Greek territory by the Deepseek platform, temporarily prohibiting its availability and use in the Greek market.
Today, Sunday, February 2nd, our statements are also featured in an article by journalist Giannis Papadopoulos in the Sunday edition of the newspaper “Kathimerini,” which provides a detailed description of the related developments, including statements from Professors Thodoris Christakis, Dimitris Papaheliopoulos, Vasilis Vlahos, and security researcher Dimitris Siatiras. We sincerely thank the journalist for his interest in our actions! For Homo Digitalis, comments were provided by Eleftherios Chelioudakis. You can read this press coverage online here.
Statements from Homo Digitalis in an article by Reporters United, Investigate Europe & EfSyn on the AI Act
Following the investigation and related revelations carried out last week by Reporters United, Investigate Europe, and EfSyn regarding the trilateral meetings on the AI Act and the negative stance of the Greek government on the security safeguards for biometric identification at a later stage, today in a new report, journalist Εurydice Bersi highlights how various state bodies have been systematically violating for years the security safeguards that European data protection legislation provides for the artificial intelligence systems already in use in our country.
We sincerely thank the journalist for her interest in our related actions and for the opportunity to provide some brief comments on the challenges we have identified and the lack of compliance that has been evident over time. Our statements were represented by Eleftherios Chelioudakis.
In fact, as part of the journalists’ investigation, a request for access to information has already been submitted, calling on the Greek government to disclose the documents with its positions on the trilateral meetings!
You can read the related article and their detailed investigation here.