It is a great honour and pleasure for Homo Digitalis to be a member of the Advisory Committee of the new Jean Monnet Chair in Mediterranean Digital Societies & Law, Professor Alessandro Mantelero of Politecnico di Torino.

The aim of this chair is to promote Mediterranean studies in computer law through interdisciplinarity, contributing to reduce the existing gap in the field of computer law that affects Mediterranean countries, which are often underrepresented in the global arena. The Chair wishes to strengthen the voice and participation of Mediterranean stakeholders in the debate on EU legislation and policy and the development of human-centred digital societies by harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence.

Homo Digitalis will be represented by the Secretary of the Board of Directors, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, who will deliver the keynote speech at the opening seminar on 5 April.

You can see the full programme of the seminar in the event poster and watch the seminar at this link on the day of the event.

On Wednesday 2 March, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (DPA) launched an investigation into the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum regarding the supply and installation of the YPERION and KENTAYROS systems in reception and accommodation facilities for asylum seekers.

Specifically, following the successful submission of a request submitted on 18 February by the organisations (in alphabetical order) Hellenic League for Human Rights, HIAS Greece, and Homo Digitalis together with the Lecturer of Queen Mary University of London Dr. Niovi Vavoula before the President of the Hellenic DPA, the Authority addressed a communication to the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum inviting it to inform it immediately about:

– the specific legal basis for the processing of personal data in the context of the operation of YPERION and KENTAYROS systems; and

– the carrying out of an impact assessment study on the impact of the processing on the protection of personal data, taking into account that in the case of the procurement of surveillance and monitoring systems, the carrying out of an impact assessment regarding their operation must be carried out not only before their operation, but also before their procurement, in order to comply with the principles of data protection by design and by default.

As the DPA states, together with the request for investigation we had filed, they had also received a request for information from the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE Committee) on the surveillance technologies generally used at our country’s borders.

We recall that the YPERION system will be the asylum seeker management system with regard to all the needs of the Reception and Identification Service and will be responsible for access control (entry – exit via security turnstiles), by showing an individual card of a migrant, NGO member, worker and simultaneous use of fingerprints), the monitoring of benefits per asylum seeker using an individual card (food, clothing supplies, etc.) and the movements between the centres, KIDNs and Accommodation Facilities. The KENTAYROS system will be the digital system for managing electronic and physical security around and inside the facilities, using cameras and Artificial Intelligence Behavioral Analytics algorithms.

You can read the relevant letter sent by the DPA to the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum here.
You can read more about the joint request for research filed in February here.

Ahead of the #DigitalServicesAct negotiations, EDRi, Amnesty International, Civil Liberties Union for Europe and 69 civil society organisations call on 20 ministries and state secretaries in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Croatia to BAN #DarkPatterns and pervasive online tracking practices and preserve privacy.

If done right, the #DSA can ensure that you are part of a rights-respecting online environment, in which you have the power to make truly informed choices and where the online advertising industry respects your rights and freedoms.

During the ongoing Trilogue negotiations, we urge the Member States to defend people and push against toxic #BigTech business models. .

You can read our joint letter here.

AI systems are used to profile people and areas to predict crime, leading to over-policing, surveillance and imprisoning of racialised groups.

That’s why 40+ civil rights organisations led by EDRi and Fair Trials urge the EU to BAN AI predictive & profiling systems in law enforcement & criminal justice in the #AIAct.

Affected people must have clear & effective routes to challenge the use of these systems.

Read the full statement here.

Homo Digitalis together with The Hellenic League for Human Rights, HIAS Greece and Dr. Niovi Vavoula, Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London submitted before the President of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) on 18.2.2022, a request for the exercise of its investigative powers regarding the deployment of the ICT systems IPERION and KENTAUROS in facilities hosting asylum seekers in Greece (protocol number 2515/18.02.2022).

In particular, as described in the relevant website of the Ministry of Digital Governance for the area of migration and asylum, as well as in the annual action plan of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum:

-The ΙPERION system will be the asylum seekers’ management system with regard to all the needs of the Reception and Identification Services. It will include a detailed record of the data of asylum seekers and it will be interconnected with the ALKYONI II system with regard to the asylum application. In addition, it will be the main tool for the operation of all related facilities as it will be responsible for access control (entry – exit through security turnstiles, with the presentation of an individual card of a migrant, NGO member, worker and simultaneous use of fingerprints), the monitoring of benefits per asylum seeker using an individual card (food, clothing supplies, etc.) and movements between the different facilities. At the same time, the project includes the creation of a mobile phone application that will provide personalized information to the user, will be his/her electronic mailbox regarding his/her asylum application process and will enable the Service to provide personalized information. It is important to note that the IPERION system is presented by the Ministry of Digital Governance as a system that will be completed in the medium term and its construction – installation is already underway. Furthermore, explicit reference is made to this system in Article 7(2) of the General Regulation on the Operation of Closed Controlled Island Facilities. Therefore, it is understood that the IPERION system will process biometric and biographical data of asylum seekers, as well as of NGO members visiting the relevant structures and of people working in them.

-The KENTAUROS system will be a digital system for managing electronic and physical security around and inside the facilities, using cameras and Artificial Intelligence Behavioral Analytics algorithms. It includes centralised management from the headquarters of the Ministry of Digital Governance and the following services: Signaling perimeter breach alarms using cameras and motion analysis algorithms; signaling of illegal behavior alarms of individuals or groups of individuals in assembly areas inside the facility; and use of unmanned aircraft systems to assess incidents inside the facility without human intervention, among other functions. It is noted that the KENTAUROS system is presented by the Ministry of Digital Governance as a system that will be completed in the medium term and its construction – installation is planned. Therefore, it is understood that the KENTAUROS system is incorporating highly intrusive technologies, such as behaviour analysis algorithms, drones and closed circuit surveillance cameras, which create important for challenges for the protection of privacy, personal data and other rights

It is worth noting that Homo Digitalis submitted on 13 October 2021 a request for information re IPERION and KENTAUROS systems before the Secretary General for Asylum Seekers of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, Mr Logothetis. Nevertheless, Homo Digitalis did not receive a response from the competent bodies, even though the relevant deadline for reply has already expired.

Based on all of the above, it is understood that there is a serious risk that the installation of these systems could violate the European Union legislation on the processing of personal data and the provisions of Law 4624/2019, while there is also a significant risk that the installation of these systems without the preparation of the necessary Data Protection Impact Assessment may cause a serious violation of the rights and freedoms of data subjects who are hosted in this facilities, visit the facilities, or are employed in them. Finally, the possible creation of databases (including biometric data and other special categories of data) to assist the operation of these systems is not foreseen by any national legal rule providing the necessary safeguards for the rights of data subjects, thus raising significant challenges.