The Hellenic Data Protection Authority fines the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for the "Centaurus" and "Hyperion" systems with the largest penalty ever imposed to a Greek public body
Two years ago, in February 2022, Homo Digitalis had filed a complaint against the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum for the “Centaurus” and “Hyperion” systems deployed in the reception and accommodation facilities for asylum seekers, in cooperation with the civil society organizations Hellenic League for Human Rights and HIAS Greece, as well as the academic Niovi Vavoula.
Today, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority identified significant GDPR violations in this case by the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum and decided to impose a fine of €175.000 euro – the highest ever imposed against a public body in the country.
The detailed analysis of the GDPR highlights the significant shortcomings that the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum had fallen into in the context of preparing a comprehensive and coherent Data Protection Impact Assessment, and demonstrates the significant violations of the GDPR that have been identified and relate to a large number of subjects who have a real hardship in being able to exercise their rights.
Despite the fact that the DPA remains understaffed, with a reduced budget, facing even the the risk of eviction from its premises, it manages to fulfil its mission and maintain citizens’ trust in the Independent Authorities. It remains to be seen how long the DPA will last if the state does not stand by its side.
Of course, nothing ends here. A high fine does not in itself mean anything. The Ministry of Immigration and Asylum must comply within 3 months with its obligations. However, the decision gives us the strength to continue our actions in the field of border protection in order to protect the rights of vulnerable social groups who are targeted by highly intrusive technologies.
You can read our press release here.
You can read Decision 13/2024 on the Authority’s website here.
Homo Digitalis interview with The Press Project on AI and Democracy
Today, AI is closer than ever to our lives and most of us welcome it with awe and suspicion.
But what is actually happening, and what are the challenges and opportunities that AI creates for our societies and democracy?
Lamprrini Gyftokosta, Director of Artificial Intelligence & Human Rights at Homo Digitalis spoke to The Press Project and journalist Jenny Tsiropoulou about relevant issues, as well as about our dozens of actions in the field of AI over the last 6 years!
You can read the article here.
We would like to thank the journalist for her interest in our actions.
Requesting access to personal data stored by Europol: a guide
Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement cooperation agency.
Its main task is to receive, exchange and analyse information and data received from the national police authorities of EU Member States, international organisations such as Interpol, third countries and private companies. This is done in order to support national law enforcement authorities “in preventing and combating organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime”.
But Europol’s powers have been steadily increasing over the last decade, which has led to it playing an increasingly important role in police activities and operations. This includes processing data on civilian activities, travel passengers, as well as third country nationals.
This guide is addressed to activists, lawyers and all interested individuals who wish to have access to personal data processed by Europol concerning themselves or their clients. The guide provides a brief overview of the relevant policy framework, as well as advice and information on the procedure for requesting access to personal data, relevant resources and a model application form.
This guide was produced by Romain Lanneau, Statewatch and Chloé Berthélémy, EDRi with contributions from Chris Jones (Statewatch), Jesper Lund (IT-Pol), Caterina Rodelli (Access Now) and Laure Baudrihaye. Translated into Greek by the Homo Digitalis’ team on a pro bono basis.
You can read the guide in other languages here.
Homo Digitalis interview with Inside Story about the MEP Asimakopoulou emails' case
The member of Homo Digitalis, Christos Zanganas, represented Homo Digitalis in an interview with Inside.story and journalist Eleftheria Tsaliki on the illegal transfer of personal data of a large number of Greeks living abroad in the hands of the MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou and the relevant political communication she made to them via email in the context of the upcoming European elections.
We are very grateful to the journalist for her interest in our actions. You can read the interview here.
We participated at DFF’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24)
We participated at DFF’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24)
Two weeks ago, Homo Digitalis’ President, Elpida Vamvaka, was in Berlin at Digital Freedom Fund’s Annual Strategy Meeting (ASM24). We are grateful for the chance to engage in enriching dialogue with such inspiring fellow digital rights defenders working to propel human rights forward!
The meeting’s goals were to share meaningful exchanges and updates on digital rights topics, explore new opportunities to organise and collaborate at the intersection of racial, social, economic and environmental justice, to centre care, to safeguard well-being and to build resilience.
The meeting featured peer-driven highlights from DFF’s network, discussions mapping the 2024 landscape and beyond on digital rights issues, knowledge and skill sharing sessions, and a powerful panel on war crimes & digital rights. Stay tuned for the video coming soon!
Topics ranged from queer & trans*, labour, disability, environmental, welfare, prisoners’, children’s and migrants’ rights, to spyware, surveillance, digital policing, platform accountability, movement lawyering, organising for digital justice, and many more.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the organizers for inviting us, as well as to all individual participants and represented organisations for making this year’s Annual Strategy Meeting a success.
Homo Digitalis interview with The Press Project about the MEP Asimakopoulou emails' case
The member of Homo Digitalis, Nikoleta Georgakopoulou, spoke to The Press Project and journalists Thanos Kamilalis and Konstantinos Poulis about the scandal with the illegal transfer of personal data of a large number of Greeks living abroad in the hands of the New Democracy MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou and the relevant political communication she made to them via email in the context of the upcoming European elections.
We are very grateful to the journalists of The Press Project for their interest in our actions.
You can listen to the excerpt of the interview at 16:15 of the related video on The Press Project’s YouTube channel here.
We are participating in Infolaw 2024 to talk about AI and the AI Act
Lawspot.gr and the European Young Lawyers Association of Greece (ELSA Greece), organize the third InfoLaw conference entitled “Regulating Digital Innovation: Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Platforms” on 28 March 2024 at the “Miltiadis Evert” Amphitheatre of Technopolis, Municipality of Athens. This year’s event is supported by Athens Legal Tech and the Hellenic Association for the Protection of Personal Data and Privacy.
Homo Digitalis is honored to be present, participating in Roundtable 1 | AI. The Roundtable is moderated by Lillian Mitrou, Professor at the University of the Aegean, Lawyer, and President of the Institute for Privacy Law, Data Protection and Technology with their participants:
-Spyros Vlachopoulos, Professor of Constitutional Law at the School of Law, University of Athens, Greece, Lawyer.
-Telemachos Moraitis, Head of Government Relations at Microsoft for Southeast and Central Eastern European countries
-Dimitris Kyriazis, Elected Assistant Professor of European Law, Faculty of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and
-our own Eleftherios Chelioudakis, Co-Founder and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Homo Digitalis
We would like to thank the organizers for the kind invitation, the opportunity to express our views and the inclusion! You can register to follow the very interesting discussions in person, and explore the rich programme here.
We participated at Alan Turing Institute's Workshop on th responsible governance of the use of AI in recruitment and employment’
On the 14th of March, our Director on AI and Human Rights, Lamprini Gyftokosta, participated in an online meeting organised by the Alan Turing Institute “Towards responsible governance of the use of AI in recruitment and employment’. Stakeholders from civil society, government, academia, and industry shared their views on best practices for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment and employment, including the development of standards in this field.
Findings from this workshop will help refine the direction and scope of an AI Standards Hub research project led by researchers from The Alan Turing Institute, which will aim to investigate the role of consensus-based standards in governing the use of AI in recruitment and employment across jurisdictional borders.
In Greece, the pilot “AI based strategic workforce planning tool for the public sector” as announced by the Minister of Digital Governance, is an initiative that will apply to more than 700.000 people when completed. As Homo Digitalis underlined during the workshop, harmonised standards in areas like recruitment and employment, even if voluntary, are necessary to create a culture of compliance to the new AI rules. The role of the Greek supervisory authority in enforcing the standards and the law will be paramount, especially since according to the Greek law implementing GDRP, the employees cannot authorise Homo Digitalis to submit a complaint on their behalf without disclosing their names, putting them in an impossible position.
Protect Not Surveil Campaign's Joint Statement: AI Act provisions are dangerous for vulnerable groups in the migration field
On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament adopted the EU Act on Artificial Intelligence (AI ACT).
Although the legislation is widely presented as a global first, the EU AI Act falls short in the important area of migration, as it does not prevent the high risks that exist and does not provide the necessary level of protection to vulnerable groups in society who are targeted by intrusive technologies in this area.
In its final version, the EU AI act sets a dangerous precedent. The legislation develops a separate legal framework for the use of AI by law enforcement, immigration control and national security authorities, providing unjustified ‘loopholes’ in the obligations set out in its text, and even encouraging the use of dangerous systems for surveillance of the most marginalised members of society.
Homo Digitalis, having in the last 4 years made significant legal complaints in this regard before the DPAA, as well as a series of educational, awareness-raising and co-determination actions at EU level in this regard, is following with particular concern the relevant developments.
As part of our active participation in the Protect Not Surveil campaign, together with all its members, we have published a joint statement outlining the main gaps in the protection of vulnerable groups in the field of migration identified in the text of the AI Act.
You can read the text of our joint statement here.