Joint Announcement by the Hellenic League for Human Rights & Homo Digitalis: A Missed Opportunity for the Education of Students Facing the Challenges of the Digital Age
On 16 November, the Independent Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (hereinafter the Authority), in the context of its constitutionally enshrined role, published its decision No 50/2021 on the implementation of the e-learning system in primary and secondary education during the pandemic. In this decision, the Authority examined ex officio the compliance of the Ministry of Education with the recommendations of its Opinion No 4/2020 and identified certain shortcomings and violations of personal data legislation, for which it reprimanded the competent Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, setting a deadline for compliance.
In particular, the Authority examined the updated Data Protection Impact Assessment and found deficiencies in areas such as: (a) as regards the Ministry’s detailed investigation of the legitimacy of the processing purposes; (b) the information provided to data subjects on the operation of the system; (c) the security measures in place; (d) the expression of the opinion of data subjects or their representatives on the envisaged processing; (e) the proper assessment of the transfer of data to countries outside the EU.
A simple reading of the Authority’s 46-page detailed decision shows the extreme moderation in its tone, the high degree of restraint and its generally mild character, which is also apparent from the emphasis it places on the objective nature of its remarks. The Authority also took its decision at a time when tele-education was not in operation, so as not to disturb the smooth functioning of the educational instruction. It leaves no doubt in the mind of a bona fide observer that the purpose and spirit of the Authority is to improve the system so that, if it should, by any chance, have to be reopened, it will be under improved conditions of protection of users’ personal data. It should be noted that the reprimand that the Authority has issued is one of its most lenient remedial powers, as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows for very high administrative fines, which can amount to several million euros per violation.
The Authority has provided the Ministry with an ideal opportunity to use its findings, in particular with regard to the information provided to data subjects, the security measures in place and the expression of data subjects’ views on the processing, so that the Ministry can integrate them into the educational process in order to deepen the education of pupils on their rights in the face of the challenges of digital technology. In this way, the Ministry would set a good example, showing that the public authority is always trying to improve and enhance the level of protection of the personal data of the users of its services.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs did not seize this opportunity. It issued a statement in an extremely strong tone and, what is worse, included in it its response to the Official Opposition, revealing an attempt to question the independence of the Authority in order to politicise it. The Ministry of the Interior has committed a serious institutional faux pas and committed a major institutional impropriety by manifesting, quite unjustifiably, a spirit of antagonism towards the Authority and by using strong language, such as: “Due to the sudden change of course on the part of the Authority and bypassing its ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs”, “no deviations from the data protection rules were ever pointed out, and certainly not those just invoked for the first time by the Authority to justify its new decision”, ‘while tele-education is no longer applied and our schools have returned to normal, an extraordinary meeting is curiously convened’, ‘to date, no failure has ever been pointed out by the Authority in relation to the information provided in the midst of the pandemic’, ‘the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs certainly respects the Decisions of the Independent Authorities.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs did not seize the opportunity. However, these decisions are subject to judicial review.” The Hellenic League for Human Rights calls on the Executive and in particular the Government and the Ministries not to undermine the position and work of the Independent Authorities and to accept the constitutional role of the Independent Authorities which are the guardians of citizens’ rights and stand by society against public and private authorities that threaten fundamental rights, especially in the digital age. Already many of the Independent Authorities face significant challenges as they operate with limited financial and human resources. Ministers must learn to be accountable to the Independent Authorities and must cooperate with them, because ultimately the Independent Authorities derive their authority from the enlarged majority of the Parliament that has elected them and from the authority of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, the ECHR and the EU.
The public questioning of the work of the constitutionally guaranteed Independent Authorities by Ministers, with expressions and positions that constitute a direct accusation of a lack of integrity and independence, may damage the credibility of the Independent Authorities, the foundations of their operation and ultimately the protected trust of citizens.
Such actions directly challenge the popular mandate for the establishment and functioning of the constitutionally enshrined Independent Authorities and are within the limits of the democratic order, if not beyond it.Ministers do not exercise hierarchical control over the Independent Authorities. They are well advised to respect the few remaining counterweights to authority in this country, for the sake of the citizens.
Instead of these actions, Ministers should seek to strengthen the Independent Authorities that have greater needs with further financial resources and human resources. Such a development would clearly be very positive in terms of strengthening the control of the executive, with the direct effect of strengthening the foundations of our democratic constitution.
The work of CAHAI was completed
After more than 18 months of active involvement in the work of the Council of Europe’s Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI), Homo Digitalis has completed its cycle of activities.
Our organisation had the great honour and pleasure to actively participate both in the plenary sessions of CAHAI and in specific working groups, such as the Policy Development Group and the Legal Frameworks Group, together with important civil society organisations.
Homo Digitalis’ representative at all CAHAI proceedings was co-founder and Board Secretary Eleftherios Chelioudakis.
You can see the composition of CAHAI here and find out more relevant information here.
The European Ombudsman opens an investigation following our complaint
In October 2021, Privacy International together with Homo Digitalis, The Border Violence Monitoring Network, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Sea-Watch submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman, Ms Emily O’Reilly, calling on her to investigate programmes related to the provision of surveillance equipment and related expertise by the European Union to third countries.
These practices can lead to significant risks for vulnerable groups, such as human rights activists, in third states, and our action sought to investigate whether due diligence and necessary human rights impact assessments were carried out by EU organisations before they formulated these ‘cooperation’ programmes.
It is a great honour and pleasure that the European Ombudsman has decided to investigate our case and shed light on these practices. You can see the relevant communication here.
We recall that at the same time, we had also submitted an open letter to the European Data Protection Supervisor, Mr. Wojciech Wiewiórowski, informing him of our actions!
Homo Digitalis participates in Consultation on a new International Cybercrime Convention
Homo Digitalis has received an invitation to participate on 10 November in the online regional consultation organised by Chatham House and EU Cyber Direct Project on a new International Cybercrime Convention. The consultation is being held in light of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 74/247 and aims to inform the relevant law-making work that will begin in 2022.
Our member Anastasios Arabatzis will represent Homo Digitalis in the consultation.
Homo Digitalis on "Rights on FM" (Athens 9.84)
Homo Digitalis was a guest on the radio show of the Hellenic League for Human Rights on October 10, 2021.
The Hellenic League for Human Rights is the oldest human rights organization in our country, founded in 1953. Every Sunday at 20.00-21.00 it conducts the radio show “Rights on FM” on the air of the Athens 9.84 radio station.
On Sunday 10 October 2021, Konstantinos Kakavoulis and Dimitris Dosas spoke with Fotini Kokkinaki about the recent incident of the Facebook platform not operating, the rights of users on online platforms, as well as about whistleblowers.
We would like to thank the Hellenic League for Human Rights for hosting us.
Homo Digitalis in a MozFest working group
We were delighted to accept the invitation of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) to be a member of the Trustworthy AI Working Group within the framework of the Mozilla Festival!
The group’s work will begin in October 2021! If Homo Digitalis received an invitation to participate, there is also an open application process to join the working group and any organisation interested in taking part can submit their application here.
Major award at WomenWeek2021
In the framework of the 20th #WomenWeek events that took place 30/7-8/8, the President of Homo Digitalis, Elpida Vamvaka was awarded for her contribution in the field of digital rights advocacy.
We would like to thank the Development Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Crete for this very honourable award.
Homo Digitalis' statements to Capital.gr about the Pegasus spyware
The Pegasus Project is a joint research project of 80 journalists from 17 countries by Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories.
The investigation has revealed that an Israeli company, NSO, may have intercepted over 50,000 phone numbers of journalists, politicians, activists, military and civilians from around the world over the last 5 years.
Konstantinos Kakavoulis, co-founder of Homo Digitalis, spoke to www.capital.gr and journalist Danae Maragoudakis about the issue.
“The right to privacy is not a ‘right that is good to have’, but a right without which the individual cannot develop freely and modern democracies cannot function.”
Read more in the article published here.
Participation of Homo Digitalis at the EDEN Conference
On 18 and 19 October, the EDEN Conference of the Europol European Data Protection Experts Network (EDEN) is organised in Rome by Europol and the Academy of European Law (ERA).
The conference addresses issues related to the protection of personal data in the field of law enforcement action, and this year’s title is ‘Human after all: Data Protection in Policing’.
Homo Digitalis has the great honour and pleasure to participate in the panel “(Doin’ it right) Making sure good cops are hunting bad guys – not any other way around”. The panel is chaired by the Data Protection Officer and Head of Europol’s Data Protection Unit, Daniel Drewer, and features high-profile speakers, namely Professor Joe Cannataci (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy), Dr. Nora Ni Loideain (Director of the Information Law & Policy Centre at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study) and Ms. Eline Chivot (Senior Adviser on Digital Policy at European People’s Party).
We will be represented at the conference by our co-founding member and Secretary of our Board, Lefteris Chelioudakis.
We would like to thank the organisers for their kind and honourable invitation to Homo Digitalis and in particular Mrs. Alkmini Giannis and Mr. Jan Ellermann.
You can see the conference programme here.