On the 20th of June 2018 the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of the adoption of the Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the digital single market.

The provisions of this proposed Directive, and more specifically the Article 13 that it includes, could be proven hazardous. The aforementioned legislation will change the Internet as we know it, only for the worse, setting serious limitations to freedom of expression and information of Greek people as well as all the internet users inside the European Union.

Before the voting process of this proposed directive, Homo Digitalis had contacted Mr. Chrysogonos, the only Greek representative in the Legal Affairs Committee, suggesting that he should examine in detail the Article 13 of the Directive. Mr. Chrysogonos proposed its amendment during the voting session. Unfortunately, his proposal was denied and the text was adopted from the Legal Affairs Committee. Read more about this here.

On the 5th of July the plenary of the European Parliament will be called to vote on this proposed Directive. If the voting goes through and in favour of this Directive, it will soon become a reality.

Thus, the last chance of reviewing this text, in order to ensure the required balance between the protection of copyrights and freedom of expression and information on the internet, is now.

Homo Digitalis noticed via e-mail all the Greek members of the EU Parliament to vote against this directive. See the e-mail in Greek here.

European citizens must act now and request from the Members of the European Parliament of their countries to vote against this proposed Directive on the 5th of July and protect the freedom of expression and information. Only if we unite our forces we will be able to send a loud and clear message.

Every e-mail to the Members of the Parliament is of utmost importance. Take action!

The European Union made the first step for the adoption of the directive that limits the freedom of expression on the Internet

On the 20th of June 2018 the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted in favour of the adoption of the Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the digital single market.

Before the voting process of this proposed directive, Homo Digitalis had contacted Mr. Chrysogonos, the only Greek representative in the Legal Affairs Committee, suggesting that he should examine in detail the Article 13 of the directive.

The Article 13 in detail:

The use of content from service providers of the society of information who save and provide access to a great bulk of material that is uploaded by the internet users.

The service providers of the society of information who save and provide access to a great bulk of material that is uploaded by the internet users, are getting, in collaboration with the beneficiaries, measures in order to ensure the function of the agreements which are appended with the beneficiaries for the use of their creations and other owned material or the deterrence of their availability again in collaboration of the two sides. The aforementioned measures, for example the use of effective technologies of content identification, are suitable and proportional. The service providers provide the beneficiaries with sufficient information concerning the usage and application of the measures, whereas, wherever needed, they file reports for the recognition and use of the material.

The Member States ensure that the service providers referred in paragraph 1 are establishing mechanisms of complaints and compensation available to users in case of any difference with the application of measures as referred in paragraph 1.

The Member States facilitate, on a case-by-case basis, the cooperation between the service providers of the society of information and the beneficiaries, hosting dialogue between the stakeholders, in order to clarify the best practices, such as the use of suitable and proportional content identification technologies, considering among others the nature of each service, the technology availability and their effectiveness in consideration of the technological advancements.

Specifically Homo Digitalis highlighted that article 13 may change the Internet as we know it.

– Creativity and freedom of speech will be severely harmed, because algorithms are not always in the position to identify the difference between the legal and illegal use of material, which is subject to copyrights and which is used in research, commenting or criticism and parody. If the use of all this material is managed by automatic systems which decide based on the letter and not the spirit of the law, then creativity and freedom of speech will be limited inevitably.

-There are no suitable technical tools for the application of the Article 13. There is no existing technology of recognition/identification, which can efficiently inspect all the kind of material that is referred in the proposed directive, which include “content, audio material, video material, images and software”. Therefore, it is irrational to expect from the courts of the 27 Member States to decide on which are the most efficient technical tools and means for the application of the directive in each case.

– The entities that provide Internet services should not be responsible for the application of the copyright law, as the Article 13 provides. In order to ensure their compliance and avoid fines and penalties, the companies will become all the more protective concerning copyrights, greatly limiting the freedom of expression. The provision of the right to proceed in deleting content as a result of copyrights violation, will overpower those companies, because there is no possibility provided to the users to challenge such deletions, even if the content was legal.

Mr. Chrysogonos proposed its amendment during the voting session. Unfortunately, his proposal was denied and the text was adopted by the committee of Legal Issues. However, this was only the first stage from where this proposed Directive had to pass until it becomes a part of the EU legislation.

It is highly possible that in the beginning of July, a voting session of the plenary of the EU Parliament will occur for this text, for which the committee voted in favor of. Finally, the European Parliament will be called to vote if this proposal will become a directive. This is expected to occur possibly either on December 2018 or January 2019.

It is obvious that that we are still in the beginning of the road for the adoption of this controversial directive. Homo Digitalis will continue to inform you on any news or advancements in this case, while concurrently fighting with all its means to ensure that the Internet remains a means of free expression and sharing of ideas.

Homo Digitalis signs the open letter to the European Commission on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Artificial Intelligence and robotics constitute an ever-increasing part of our everyday lives. It seems that robots or robotic applications will be used in many aspects of our lives in the near future. Therefore, it crucial that an adequate legislative framework is created, regulating their activity, safeguarding the principles of democracy and human rights. This framework should not only be examined from an economic and legal perspective, but there must be a holistic approach to it, which will include sociological, psychological and ethical aspects.

In this context, the European Parliament with a resolution proposed to the European Commission:

“the adoption of a legal instrument on robotics in the long term, so that at least the most hi-tech, autonomous robots are recognized as electronic persons, having liability for any damage they cause and potentially implementation of this electronic personality in cases in which robots decide autonomously or interact independently in any other way with third parties”.

Scientists and manufacturers specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, law professionals, health scientists, university professors in the related fields, as well as organizations operating in the aforementioned fields, as well as ethics, address the European Commission through an open letter regarding the proposal by the European Parliament.

Their purpose is to support the drafting of a legal instrument in the European plane, which will regulate robots’ activities, safeguarding human rights and limiting the risks, which may be caused by their acts. They believe that the European Commission should create a feasible legislative instrument for innovative and responsible progress in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, resulting in the enjoyment of even more benefits for European citizens and the European single market.

However, the experts underline that:

• It is necessary to adopt a holistic approach for the creation of the regulatory framework.
• From an ethical and legal aspect, it is impossible to create a legal personality for robots, which will be based on any existing law system.

Homo Digitalis is one of the signatories of this open letter, represented by its President, Ms. Elpida Vamvaka.

If you belong to the persons or organizations,which can and wish to sign the letter, thus adding to the endeavour being made before the European Commission, you can do so following the link:

https://www.robotics-openletter.eu/

On 30 May 2018, Homo Digitalis submitted a letter to the Greek Parliament, addressing all the political parties and the independent Members of the Parliament, regarding the reinforcement of the Personal Data Protection Authority and the Authority for the Confidentiality of Communications with adequate human, technical and economic means, in order for their objectives to be successfully carried out.

The letter was also communicated to the two Authorities and particularly to their Presidents, Mr. Menoudakos and Mr. Zampiras respectively.

You can read the letter in Greek here.

In May 2018, Homo Digitalis signed the Toronto Declaration on the protection of the rights to equality and non-discrimination in machine learning systems. This Declaration is an initiative by the international non-governmental organizations Access Now and Amnesty International and has been adopted by many other prominent international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Wikimedia Foundation.

Machine learning systems may be used in various sectors, such as health, social welfare, education or police surveillance. Their use offers unlimited opportunities, but also many challenges. This declaration aims at establishing values in the international plane, which will safeguard the protection of the rights to equality and non-discrimination during the use of machine learning systems.

The data on which a machine learning system bases its analysis, may be biased. Therefore, the results or the decisions of this system will also be biased and partial. The use of new technologies of any nature should aim at eliminating discrimination and inequality and not their perpetuation or their expansion.

Signing this Declaration, Homo Digitalis recognizes the necessity to establish values in the international plane, which will safeguard the principle of equality and equal treatment during machine learning use.

We must also note that machine learning systems are linked to important challenges not only for the rights of equality and non-discriminatory treatment, but also for a series of other human rights, such as equity before the law, the right to privacy, the protection of personal data, freedom of expression and information, children’s rights and the right to fair trial.

The citizens of the EU Member States enjoy the highest level of protection of human rights globally. The provisions of the EU Fundamental Rights Chapter, as well as the jurisprudence of the Court of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, establish a legal context with high level safeguards.

This context should be globally extended, so that new technologies serve our legal and ethical values and not assist the ones who aspire for their infringement.

Letter by Homo Digitalis to the Greek Parliament, suggesting an amendment to the draft law on Personal Data Protection, implementing the EU Regulation 2016/679 and transposing EU Directive 2016/680

On 24 April 2018, Homo Digitalis addressed all the Members of the Greek Parliament through a letter. Homo Digitalis proposed to the Members of the Parliament to promote the adoption of a provision in Article 67 of the Draft Law on the Protection of Personal Data, which would state the following:

“Non-Governmental institutions, organizations, lawfully established unions, the constitutional objects of which include the protection of rights and freedoms of the data subjects in relation to the protection of personal data shall have the right, regardless of the assignment by the data subject, to request judicial remedy from the data controller or the processor”.

This proposal complies fully with the provisions of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Article 80, paragraph 1.

The letter was also communicated to the Greek Personal Data Protection Authority and the Greek Authority for the Confidentiality of Communications.

The first Non-Governmental Organization in Greece with the scope of protecting human rights in the digital age, Homo Digitalis, was established. Co-founders to it are six young lawyers with a broad expertise and passion for offering to society.

The aim of Homo Digitalis is to inform the Greek citizens on the right use of the Internet, the protection of their fundamental rights, but also to support them in cases of violations. Through its actions, Homo Digitalis hopes to challenge the citizen’s conscience regarding their digital rights and become a benchmark organization for the protection of digital rights in Greece.

Two of the first actions of Homo Digitalis in this context are:

– the submission of its Report on the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the “Right to Privacy in the Digital Age”

– an open letter to the Greek Parliament, suggesting an amendment to the draft law on the protection of personal data, implementing EU Regulation 2016/679 and transposing EU Directive 2016/680.

We call every person interested to discover more on our organization, either browsing through this website or sending any questions and comments to our email address info@homodigitalis.gr.