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:
Joint report with noyb on the implementation of GDPR
Tomorrow marks 5 years since GDPR came into force! Noyb.eu has prepared a feature on the challenges of implementing its provisions in many countries in Europe, with Homo Digitalis covering Greece!
In this feature we highlight how:
-Despite the high specialization of the scientific staff of the DPAA, it remains low paid and has limited human and financial resources,
This results in a significant impact on the speed of processing of the cases under examination, with long delays both in decision-making and even in their finalisation and publication!
In addition to Greece, the feature covers countries such as Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
Many thanks to noyb.eu for the excellent cooperation!
The feature is available here:
We call on the IMCO & LIBE committees of the European Parliament to end biometric mass surveillance
Thursday (11/5) will be a landmark day for the protection of Human Rights, as the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) and the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) of the European Parliament vote on the provisions of the proposed legislation on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act).
For more than 3 years now, the European Digital Rights network within the ReclaimYourFace campaign together with partners, including Homo Digitalis, have been actively advocating for a ban on mass biometric surveillance.
Today, we are one step closer to realising our demands and we call on Committee members to vote with the protection of everyone’s rights in mind!!
You can read more about our positions here.
We express our concern about the introduction of a mechanism providing for direct payments from content providers and technology companies to major European telecom companies.
In February 2023, the European Commission presented a series of actions to transform the EU’s connectivity sector, including an exploratory consultation on the future of the connectivity sector and related infrastructure.
Today, 48 organisations, including Homo Digitalis, published a joint statement expressing our collective concern about calls at EU level for a mechanism to provide for significant direct payments (“network contribution”, “network fee”, “fair share”) from content providers and technology companies to large European telecoms companies.
We call on EU policy makers and Member States to resist the imposition of direct payment obligations in favour of the largest telecom operators! Six MEPs support our stand!
You can read our joint statement in English and the MEPs’ joint support here.
You can read the relevant EU Press Release here.
Our participation in the study "DMA & DSA: A comprehensive inventory of the EU's effort to regulate digital platforms & the digital economy"
Yesterday, the ENA Institute for Alternative Policies published the study “DMA & DSA: An analytical inventory of the EU’s effort to regulate digital platforms & the digital economy”, in which Christos Zanganas, Lawyer representing Homo Digitalis and Antonis Bogris, Information & Communications Engineer and Professor at the University of West Attica, participated.
You can read the study here. Thank you very much for your cooperation!
Joint Letter to the European Parliament on the AI Act
The European Parliament is preparing to vote on the proposed legislation on artificial intelligence #AIAct.
In a joint letter today, European Digital Rights and 75 other organisations, including Homo Digitalis, are sending a clear message to protect Human Rights and call on MEPs to pay due attention to the problematic provisions of the proposed text!
In order to do so, MEPs will have to vote:
-to strengthen the framework for the protection of Human Rights,
-on specific accountability and transparency obligations regarding the use of artificial intelligence systems,
-for a ban on the use of AI systems that pose unacceptable risks to the protection of everyone’s rights!
You can read the joint letter here.
We participate in the Media Pluralism Monitor study of the European University Institute (EUI)
Elpida Vamvaka, president of Homo Digitalis, participated for the second year as an expert in the Media Pluralism Monitor 2022 survey!
The study highlights the risks to media pluralism and freedom in four areas: Fundamental Protection, Market Pluralism, Political Independence and Social Inclusion.
The Media Pluralism Monitor 2022 is implemented by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom and is a scientific attempt to map the threats to pluralism and media freedom in the Member States of the European Union and in some candidate countries, taking into account legal, political and economic variables.
We send a letter to the Government asking for the immediate drafting and proposal of a draft law of popular legislative initiative
Three years after the 2019 revision of the Constitution, when the institution of the popular legislative initiative was introduced for the first time in Greece, i.e. the possibility for citizens to submit legislative proposals to the Parliament, it remains inactive.
Unfortunately, there is no apparent legislative intention from the Greek government as an implementing law is required. This is a disheartening contempt for the Constitution, citizens and democratic institutions.
Homo Digitalis, Vouliwatch and 44 other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have sent an open letter to the Government asking for the immediate drafting and proposal of this draft law. We also asked whether members of the CSOs would be included in the legislative process.
You can read the letter and more information here.
Homo Digitalis participates in important research on sexual abuse through images
Our member Anastasios Arampatzis participated in a Share Foundation survey on the legal framework in Greece regarding sexual abuse through images.
The Greek legal order, like many neighbouring countries, does not include a comprehensive and clear provision practically protecting survivors of image-based sexual abuse (#imagebasedsexualabuse).
The lack of a directly regulated framework defining and prosecuting the crime as a stand-alone crime as well as #advocacy methods are explored in the comparative study in South Eastern Europe recently published by the SHARE Foundation. The latest development in the Greek reality (Article 346 CC), despite its positive aspect, again includes the crime in a series of offences such as forgery, intensifying the need for an autonomous regulation.
You can read the relevant report and find out about the two countries that recognise sexual abuse through images as a separate criminal offence here.
