Homo Digitalis participates in the European Commission's Open Consultation on General-Purpose AI
Yesterday, 18/9 Homo Digitalis submitted its responses to the European Commission’s Open Consultation under the title “FUTURE-PROOF AI ACT: TRUSTWORTHY GENERAL-PURPOSE AI”. The consultation covered issues concerning the future implementation of the AI ACT legislation and how to make the use of General-Purpose AI models trustworthy.
Homo Digitalis’ position paper on the Consultation was prepared by our organisation’s AI & Human Rights Director, Lamprini Gyftokosta and our member Tania Skrapaliori
You can read our statement here.
Participation of Homo Digitalis in the 52nd Book Festival
Homo Digitalis has the great honour to be present at the 52nd Book Festival taking place at the Pedion tou Areos.
Specifically, on Thursday 19 September at 20:15, our co-founder and President Elpida Vamvaka will participate as a speaker in a round table organized on the main stage of the festival by the Association of Book Publishers (S.E.B.) & the Hellenic Comics Academy on the topic “Is art written with AI?”
The discussion will be moderated by Panagiotis Papageorgiou (Lawyer, Member of the Greek Comics Academy) and Dimitris Doukoglou (illustrator, presenter, stand-up comedian).
Other important speakers of the round table include Vassilis Vlahokyrikakos (Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction) , Abraham Kawa (Author, Translator & Theorist of Culture) and George Nathaniel (IT and Management Consultant).
You can find out more about the full Festival programme here.
Letter from Homo Digitalis before NCRTV on the obligations arising from Regulation 2024/1083
On September 3, Homo Digitalis submitted an open letter (no. 4844-3-9-24) to the The National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV), in which it raised two (2) questions regarding the application of the provisions of Article 25 of Regulation 2024/1083 on the establishment of a common framework for media services in the internal market.
In particular, as stipulated in Article 25, par. 2-3, the competent independent authorities in the Member States shall monitor and submit an annual report on the allocation of public advertising expenditure to media service providers and online platform providers. Those annual reports shall be made publicly available in an easily accessible format and shall be based on the information made public on an annual basis by electronic and user-friendly means by public authorities or entities that have incurred public advertising expenditure.
This information shall include at least:
(a) the official names of the media service providers or online platform providers from which services have been purchased,
(b) where applicable, the official names of the business groups to which any media service providers or online platform providers belong; and
(c) the total annual amount spent and the annual amounts spent per media service provider or online platform provider.
In view of the above, Homo Digitalis submitted the following two (2) questions before the NCRTV:
1 ) Has the NCRTV proceeded with the publication of the relevant annual report for the year 2023 regarding the allocation of state advertising expenditure to media service providers and online platform providers? If the NCRTV does not have the relevant competence, before which body should we appeal?
2) Does the NCRTV know whether public authorities or entities which have incurred expenditure on state advertising have complied with their obligation to publish annually by electronic and user-friendly means the information detailed in Article 25(2) of Regulation 2024/1083? In what ways could we as civil society monitor the respective activities of public authorities/entities in order to assist you in your work and inform you of any shortcomings in their compliance?
We hope to receive an answer to our questions soon.
Civil Society Common Statement: United Against Spyware Abuse in the EU and Beyond
Spyware isn’t just a privacy issue — it’s a threat to the very foundations of our democratic values. By undermining independent decision-making, restricting public debate, and silencing journalists and activists, spyware erodes the pillars of a healthy civic space.
As new European Union institutions prepare to take office following the EU elections, the growing threat of spyware has become a pressing global concern that demands immediate attention.
On Tuesday 3/9, Homo Digitalis joined Center for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT Europe), alongside 30 civil society and journalists' organisations in publishing a joint statement urging the incoming EU institutions to prioritise action against the misuse of spyware in the new legislative term.
Some of our coalition’s key recommendations include:
- A ban on the production, sale, and use of spyware that disproportionately harms fundamental rights.
- Stronger export controls to prevent the misuse of these technologies beyond the EU.
- Transparency and accountability in government contracts involving spyware.
As Silvia Lorenzo Perez, Director of CDT Europe’s Security, Surveillance & Human Rights Programme, puts it: "The incoming EU institutions have the opportunity to correct the failures of the last legislature by taking concrete and decisive action against the abuse of spyware surveillance."
The new EU institutions must seize this moment to restore public trust, protect our fundamental rights, and uphold the values that define the Union.
You can read the EN version of the letter here, and the EL version of the letter here.
Homo Digitalis has also addressed related concerns, before the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights in a recent Open Letter submitted in August. You can read more about this here.
New Book: #FakeYou – Don’t blame the people; don’t blame the Internet. Blame the power
Our friends from the digital rights civil society organization Xnet published recently the book “#FakeYou – Don’t blame the people; don’t blame the Internet. Blame the power”.
The book’s lead author is Simona Levi, while it is the activist’s guide to defeating fake news and blocking policies that use disinformation to curtail civil rights and freedoms.
You can freely read and download the book here.
Homo Digitalis Submits Urgent Letter to the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights
Homo Digitalis submitted today a letter to the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights.
We this letter, the Greek CSO aims to draw the Commissioner’s attention to the following three issues:
A. The imminent adoption of a Presidential Decree in Greece permitting state authorities to procure spyware.
B. The deteriorating condition of independent supervisory authorities in Greece, plagued by power struggles, understaffing, and financial constraints.
C. The latest developments in the ongoing PREDATOR scandal in Greece, which leaves critical questions unanswered regarding the surveillance of journalists, politicians, and lawyers through illegal means.
Moreover, with this letter Homo Digitalis urges the Commissioner:
- To give full and close attention to the situation in Greece,
- To take into account the facts presented above and urgently request further information and clarifications from Greek authorities,
- To examine the situation in Greece and take necessary steps to identify any shortcomings in the law and practices concerning human rights abuses, and
- To assist in strengthening the activities of national supervisory institutions and other human rights structures in Greece.
You can read the letter (EN) here.
Homo Digitalis is immediately informed by the Hellenic DPA & the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy for their intervention re the Draft Presidential Decree on Spyware
On Tuesday July 30th η Homo Digitalis filed a request before the President of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA), Mr.Menoudakos (no.6277/30-07-2024), and the President of the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), Mr. Rammou (no. 2755/30-07-2024), in order for the two Independent Authorities to exercise their advisory powers and issue a joint Opinion regarding the Draft Presidential Decree of Articles 13 & 47 of Law 5002 /2022 on the procurement of contracts on behalf of governmental structures for the supply of spyware or surveillance devices.
In response to our request, the response of the HDPA and ADAE has been lightning fast. Specifically, the Directorate of Supervisory Work of the HDPA informed us on the same day, 30 July 2024, that the HDPA has requested the draft presidential decree from the Ministry of Citizen Protection from 19 July 2024 in order to give its opinion on the matter, while the President of ADAE, Mr. Rammos, in a letter addressed to Homo Digitalis on August 1, 2024, informed us that ADAE, as it always does, within the framework of its constitutional and statutory competence, it goes without saying that it will exercise its advisory competence (provided for by Article 6 paragraph 1 point i of Law 3115 /2003) and on the specific draft presidential decree in the context of an institutional dialogue with all the state bodies involved in its adoption.
We await with interest the relevant developments in the near future, since, as Homo Digitalis has pointed out in its letter to the two independent authorities, the provisions of the draft presidential decree may cause irreparable risks for democracy, the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in Greece.
Learn more about the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, in the drafting of which Homo Digitalis was actively involved.
The Council of Europe has published an important overview of the “Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law,” the first international legally binding instrument for AI.
The AI Treaty “aims to ensure that activities within the lifecycle of artificial intelligence systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law, while being conducive to technological progress and innovation.”
For more than 4 years, since July 2020, Homo Digitalis has been actively involved in the relevant processes of the Council of Europe, initially participating in the CAHAI (Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence) in the Policy Development and Legal Frameworks Working Groups, and subsequently in the Council of Europe’s Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI). Throughout this period, we had the honor of closely collaborating with civil society organizations, academic experts, member delegations, the Presidents of the Committees and Working Groups, and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe’s Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the development of the AI Convention.
Our co-founder and Executive Director, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, has represented Homo Digitalis in the relevant processes for the past 4 years.
Despite the limitations in the text of the Convention, which we have discussed in detail, we eagerly anticipate its adoption and implementation by the Member States of the Council of Europe. The treaty will be open for signature on September 5, 2024.
You can read the related overview here.