Homo Digitalis successfully participated in the Business Integrity Forum of Transparency International
Today, Homo Digitalis took part in the 17th Round Table titled “Greek Business and Transparency: Building Trust and Competitiveness”, organized within the framework of the Business Integrity Forum, a commitment of Transparency International Greece!
Specifically, Lamprini Gyftokosta from our team moderated the panel “AI and Ethics in Business Compliance”, with contributions from Alexandros Nousias (Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications at NCSR Demokritos), Panagiotis Sourlas (Growthfund, the National Fund of Greece), Irene Papadopoulou (ΣΟΛ Crowe), and Sofoklis Karapidakis (Metlen Energy & Metals).
We warmly thank the organizers and the Executive Director of Transparency International Greece, Angelos Kaskanis, for the kind invitation!
Homo Digitalis successfully participated in the Digital World Summit Greece 2025
Last week, the Co-Founder of Homo Digitalis, Stefanos Vitoratos, spoke at the Digital World Summit Greece about the next steps in the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, what we can expect over the next decade, and best practices that can help create a safer environment.
“Artificial Intelligence is not going to wipe out human labor; as in every phase of technological transition, what changes is not the need for work, but the environment and the way it is carried out. What is required is adaptation and active participation in the new reality,” he emphasized.
You can watch highlights from the speech in the video here.
We warmly thank the organizers for this opportunity to collaborate, as well as the fellow speakers and the panel moderator for the fruitful discussion!
Homo Digitalis meets with the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission
The Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) welcomed the non-profit organization Homo Digitalis to its offices on May 29, 2025. In this context, we discussed with the Directorate of Digital Services and Digital Affairs of EETT its work in the field of supervising compliance with the DSA in Greece.
We are very pleased with EETT’s kind invitation to this meeting and look forward to strengthening our cooperation in the near future.
Our Joint Action with Reporters United & Vouliwatch: The Cameras at the Polytechnic Threaten Personal Data
On March 29, 2025, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) installed surveillance cameras at the Zografou Campus and the Patission Complex without informing the public about its data processing policy for students and staff.
On May 26, 2025, Vouliwatch, Reporters United, and Homo Digitalis jointly submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to determine whether NTUA complies with the law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other national regulations. A similar request was also submitted by 61 Architecture students.
NTUA may not be fully complying with Articles 12, 13, 35, and 36 of the GDPR, which ensure transparent information for data subjects, data protection impact assessments, and the obligation of prior consultation.
In our request, we explain that NTUA has not responded to student and staff inquiries about how their personal data is being processed, and we request access to the government’s confidential security plan for universities.
In our request to NTUA, we also seek to know who is being recorded by the cameras, where their data is stored, and whether this data is being shared with the Hellenic Police (ELAS).
NTUA has a deadline to respond to our request by June 15, and to the students’ request by June 19. We will continue to monitor the issue and will follow up with further reporting. Our organizations’ FOI request and information provision document is available here.
Homo Digitalis meets with the Hellenic Data Protection Authority
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) welcomed the non-profit organization Homo Digitalis to its offices on May 30, 2025, for a meeting on issues related to digital rights, personal data protection, and artificial intelligence. Among other topics, the discussion covered recent developments in the field of new technologies, relevant cases and requests we have submitted before the Authority, as well as the role of the HDPA under the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, following its designation as one of the authorities under Article 77 of the Regulation (Powers of the authorities for the protection of fundamental rights).
Participating in the meeting were Homo Digitalis Co-founder and Executive Director Eleftherios Chelioudakis and Homo Digitalis Director of Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence Lamprini Gyftokosta.
I HAVE RIGHTS and Homo Digitalis Publish Report on the Situation in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) One Year After the Fine Issued by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority for KENTAURUS and HYPERION Systems
The Hellenic Ministry of Migration (MoMA) continues to violate data protection rights of asylum seekers in the Samos Closed Control Access Centre (CCAC), I Have Rights and Homo Digitalis said in a report released today.
The report, titled “They Never Tell Us Anything”: Ongoing Data Rights Violations in the Samos CCAC analyses the implementation of a compliance order issued by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) in April 2024. In this historic ruling, the HDPA had found that MoMA’s use of surveillance technologies in reception facilities across Greece, including biometric access systems and surveillance infrastructure tools violates EU data protection laws (GDPR).
Ten months after the passing of the implementation period in July 2024, the report finds that MoMA has failed to comply with the order. “The ongoing violations of data protection rights in the Samos CCAC are emblematic of a system where control and surveillance are prioritised over the rights of those seeking protection” said Réka Rebeka Rósa, Legal and Team Coordinator at I Have Rights. “The European Union should press Greek authorities to address prevailing rights violations. Otherwise, these violations risk becoming a blueprint for further (digital) rights abuse of people on the move across Europe.”
The Samos CCAC opened in September 2021 as the first of the now existing five facilities in Greece, following an agreement between the European Commission and the Greek Government in 2020. Since its opening, NGOs, international human rights experts and people held in the facility have consistently raised concerns about the facility’s securitised infrastructure, de facto detention practices, and inadequate living conditions.
These concerns are exacerbated by the overall lack of transparency in the Greek asylum procedure and opaque surveillance system in the Samos CCAC.
As one client explained about the intransparency of biometric data collection: “No, no one explains it. They only take fingerprints and take us from one place to another, and we do it without knowing why. There is no person to explain what is happening.”
Greece has legal and moral obligations to uphold fundamental rights and data protection rights of asylum seekers, as enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and GDPR. The European Union, in particular the European Commission – given its central role in conceptualising, financing, operating, and monitoring the CCACs in Greece – bears responsibility to ensure that these standards are fully respected. “The continued lack of GDPR compliance, in terms of transparency and accountability in the deployment of the Centaur and Hyperion surveillance systems, at the Samos CCAC reflects a disturbing erosion of the fundamental rights. By failing to meet even the basic requirements of data protection in practice, MoMA is reinforcing a dangerous trend of surveillance-driven border management that dehumanizes people on the move” said Eleftherios Chelioudakis, Executive Director at Homo Digitalis.
Homo Digitalis Successfully Participates in TEDxPatras Representing NGI TALER
On May 17, Homo Digitalis had the great honor of participating in TEDxPatras at the Conference and Cultural Center of the University of Patras, proudly representing NGI TALER!
We delivered a 40-minute workshop, during which we had the opportunity to discuss digital payments, business models that track consumer behavior for profit, the relevant legal framework, and the importance of reshaping the future of digital payments with a focus on privacy protection and promoting free software solutions like GNU TALER (Taler Systems S.A.).
Our presentation also highlighted the ongoing funding calls under the NGI TALER project, as well as the academic materials that have been developed and are freely available on the NGI TALER website.
Alexandra Giannopoulou and Eleftherios Chelioudakis represented Homo Digitalis at this event.
We warmly thank the organizers for the opportunity to participate!
Homo Digitalis meets with the European Commission
On May 19, 2025, Homo Digitalis welcomed to its offices the representative of the European Commission in Greece (Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology – Platforms Policy and Enforcement, Unit CNECT.F1) regarding the implementation of the DSA. In this context, we discussed the Commission’s work in the field of supervision, as well as possible avenues for cooperation.
Homo Digitalis Speaks Once Again at CPDP!
Homo Digitalis participated once again in the largest international conference on data protection, Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP), with a talk on the panel “Protecting the Digital Rights of Asylum Seekers and Refugees”, organized by the Centre for Fundamental Rights – Hertie School!
Eleftherios Chelioudakis, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Homo Digitalis, represented us as a speaker on the panel, alongside Francesca Palmiotto (IE University), Derya Ozkul (University of Warwick), and Joanna Parkin (EDPS – European Data Protection Supervisor) on Friday, May 23.
Congratulations to the organizing team at the Hertie School and to Ida Reihani for the excellent collaboration!