Homo Digitalis in Brussels to speak at two important events

Homo Digitalis made a lightning trip to Brussels this week!

There we attended the annual plenary meeting of the Justice, Equity & Technology (JET) Table at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which we have been members of for more than 2.5 years now, studying the implications of using technologies to defend specific social groups based on class and race.

We also successfully participated for another year in FreedomNotFear, where we had the great pleasure to organise a talk regarding the use of intrusive technologies in the field of border protection and our related legal actions for 2019-2023.

For Homo Digitalis, our Board Secretary, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, travelled from Greece to Brussels

 


FRONTEX responds to Homo Digitalis' Request for Access to Information on EUROSUR and the deadly shipwreck in Pylos

In June 2023, Homo Digitalis had filed a request for access to documents before FRONTEX in order to explore whether the EUROSUR system, which is composed of drones and satellites, among other technologies, was in operation during the fatal ship’s voyage from 9 to 13 June in the Mediterranean Sea and the reasons why it did not prevent this fatal shipwreck.

Today, FRONTEX replies that the EUROSUR system, despite being fully operational, has not been able to do what it promises, namely to detect large vessels that may be used by criminal organisations to transport people in the Mediterranean, putting the lives of the latter at high risk. This is a major revelation by Homo Digitalis, demonstrating that the very expensive – tens of millions of euros – solutions promised by technology companies to complex issues such as border management and the protection of people who put their lives at risk have failed. EUROSUR failed to locate the large floating vessel, despite the fact that it had been right in its field of control for more than 3 full 24 hours.

You can see the text of the reply we received here.

 


Homo Digitalis co-organizes with the Digital Freedom Fund the Strategic Litigation Meeting for the first time in Greece!

The Digital Freedom Fund’s Strategic Litigation Meeting is back!

In collaboration with Homo Digitalis and with funding from Luminate, the retreat will take place in Athens from September 11-14. If you are planning to take legal action against major tech companies or other class actions, register now here.

The retreat hosts training sessions and workshops aimed at developing participants’ legal skills and tactics in a relaxed and collaborative environment with other colleagues. DFF also hopes to be able to sponsor some of the cases that participants develop during the meeting.

After two online versions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, DFF is pleased to bring the event back to its true essence as an in-person retreat where participants can disconnect from other activities and commitments to work in depth on the study and strategic planning of their cases.

In the latest post on the DFF blog, legal counsel César Manso-Sayao shares more details about the retreat, as well as some thoughts regarding recent developments on the liability of large platforms. Read it here.

Artwork by Kruthika N.S.

 


We call on the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU to prioritise fundamental rights over profits

As the EU institutions move forward in “trilogue” negotiations, the last stage for the adoption of the proposed EU legislation on AI #AIAct, we are taking a stand again!

150 civil society organisations, including Homo Digitalis, are calling on the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council to put people and their fundamental rights ahead of profits!

In the coming period we intend to take initiatives in this regard at national level as well! You can read our letter here.

 


Homo Digitalis participates again in an event of the Greek KnowledgeNet Chapter of IAPP

Next Thursday, 13/7, at 19:00, Homo Digitalis will have the great pleasure and honor to be present at the event of the Greek KnowledgeNet Chapter of the IAPP – International Association of Privacy Professionals on “Managing the rights of data subjects”.

There we will be represented by our new Director in Artificial Intelligence & Human Rights issues, Lambrini Gyftokosta, in a panel in which Ms. Kalli Karveli, Legal Auditor, at the Data Protection Authority and Mr. Evangelos Katsaras Senior Associate, ALG MANOUSAKIS LAW FIRM will participate.

We would like to thank the organizers for the invitation and the interest in our actions! You can find out more about the venue of the event on its official page here.

 


Now you can watch our talk at CPDP2023

Would you like to watch what Homo Digitalis said at the CPDP Conferences 2023, but you were not there??

No problem! The presentation of Stergios Konstantinou, who represented us, is freely available!

You can watch it here.

 


The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency once again makes explicit reference to our important work

For yet another year, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights honours Homo Digitalis with an explicit reference to our actions in its annual study!!

It is a great success for the official EU agency and the only independent reference centre for the promotion and protection of human rights in the EU to make reference to our important interventions at national level.

We take strength to continue with more actions in the new season!

You can read the FRA’s annual study for free, here.

 

 


Homo Digitalis submitted a request for access to documents before FRONTEX on the deadly shipwreck off Pylos

In the early hours of June 14, an old steel fishing trawler, reportedly carrying up to 750 people, capsized southwest of Pylos, Greece. More than 80 people have been confirmed dead, more than 100 people have been rescued and hundreds of people are still missing.

According to reports, the boat started its journey from Libya on Friday 9/6, and had already been travelling for more than 4 full days in the Mediterranean, when on Tuesday 13/6 morning, the Italian authorities were informed of its existence by an activist. They then contacted the Greek authorities.

The EU has put in place an expensive surveillance system, called EUROSUR, which consists of satellites and drones. The aim of this system is to allow FRONTEX to monitor the EU’s external borders in order to help protect people’s lives, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. FRONTEX has the obligation to share the information collected by satellites and drones with Member States in order to enable timely rescue operations.

Yesterday, Homo Digitalis submitted a request for access to the documents before FRONTEX, in which we ask this EU agency for answers to the following questions:

 

1) Were there any EUROSUR drones and/or satellites operating in the area where the vessel in question was travelling from 9/6 to 13/6?
2) Was Frontex aware of the existence of the vessel in question before Tuesday 13/6, from EUROSUR technologies?
2a)If Frontex was aware, when did it inform the Greek and Italian coastguard of the situation, as required by the EUROSUR Regulation, so that further monitoring of the vessel could be carried out and rescue operations organised?
2b) If Frontex was not aware, what are the reasons for the failure of the EUROSUR system, which is presented as a solid solution for monitoring the EU’s external borders in the Mediterranean region and protecting human lives?

You can read our request in detail here:

 


The European Parliament plenary voted to ban mass biometric surveillance in public places

The European Parliament plenary voted today on its text on the proposed legislation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act).

The ban on mass biometric surveillance in public places in real time was adopted by the plenary with 335 votes in favour to 235 votes against. We are very proud of the outcome of this vote, despite the fact that there remain provisions in the proposed legislation that pose significant challenges to Human Rights!

But how did our representatives vote? On 25/5, Homo Digitalis had sent open letters to all Greek MEPs, so that no one can claim not to know what is at stake in today’s vote.

We are glad that MEPs Arvanitis, Kokkalis, Kouloglou, Kountoura, Kirtos, Papadimoulis, and Papandreou voted in favour of maintaining the position of the IMCO and LIBE Committees of the European Parliament on the ban. We are concerned that MEPs Vozemberg-Vryonidis, Zagorakis, Kefalogiannis, Meimarakis and Spyraki voted against maintaining this position, and we remain at their disposal to highlight with our positions and arguments the need for a ban on mass biometric surveillance in public places in real time without exceptions.

Nothing has been decided yet, however, as the trilateral negotiations are now beginning!