Homo Digitalis successfully participated in a scientific online event on the Digital Omnibus package
On Thursday, February 26, 2026, Homo Digitalis had the honor of delivering a presentation at a scientific online event organized by the Society of Administrative Studies in collaboration with the European Laboratory for Bioethics, Technoethics and Law of Panteion University, on the topic of the European Commission’s proposals to amend provisions on personal data protection (Digital Omnibus).
Homo Digitalis was represented by Stefanos Vitoratos, while presentations were also delivered by Dr Giorgos Rousopoulos (Hellenic Data Protection Authority) and Dr Zoe Kardasiadou (Official at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers).
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Fereniki Panagopoulou-Koutnatzi, Associate Professor at Panteion University, while opening remarks were delivered by Dimitrios Skaltsounis, President of the Society of Administrative Studies and former President of the Council of State.
We express our warm thanks to the organizers for the honorable invitation and for the opportunity they offered us to participate in a fruitful dialogue and a meaningful exchange of arguments and views.
Homo Digitalis successfully completed its participation in the AI & Ethics Conference
On Friday, February 20, Homo Digitalis had the great pleasure of speaking at the AI & Ethics Conference!
The conference panels sparked discussions with a critical perspective, while public institutions, the academic community, the market, and civil society exchanged ideas and views on how artificial intelligence can remain human-centered while also being compatible with the protection of Fundamental Rights.
We would like to warmly thank the organizers for their kind inclusion, KEAN – Cell of Alternative Youth Activities, as well as Raina Melissinou and Konstantinos Kechagias for their gracious invitation. Our team was represented by our Executive Director, Eleftherios Chelioudakis.
We celebrate Safer Internet Day with students
On February 10, we celebrated Safer Internet Day 2026 together with students from different countries, including Greece, Italy, and Turkey!
As part of the eTwinning project “D.A.Y.S. of Citizenship,” founded by the 5th Gymnasium of Kalamata and co-founded by the Italian school I.S. Andrea Torrente – Casoria (NA), we held an online discussion on:
▪️ social media and the way they are designed to capture the attention of both young people and adults, often leading to addiction,
▪️ the use of Artificial Intelligence to create deepfakes and the risks they entail,
▪️ cyberbullying, as well as the tools and practices available to help us protect ourselves effectively.
At the end of the presentation, we also played an educational quiz, putting into practice what we learned!
We warmly thank the teacher of the 5th Gymnasium of Kalamata, Tzina Mouselimi, for the kind invitation, as well as all the teachers who participated for their collaboration.
Homo Digitalis was represented by Eleftherios Chelioudakis.
Press Conference on Our Joint Report on the State of the Rule of Law in Greece
On Wednesday, 11 February, a press conference on the current state of the Rule of Law in Greece was successfully held with significant attendance at the Irida Cinema Theatre. The event was organised by the independent organisations HIAS Greece, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Vouliwatch, the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), the Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), Homo Digitalis, Reporters United and Solomon.
You may watch the press conference here.
We would like to warmly thank omniatv for the organisation and online hosting of the press conference, as well as the Photography Department of POFPA for hosting the event at the Irida Cinema Theatre.
Representatives of the participating organisations presented the key findings of the joint submission that we submitted for the fourth consecutive year to the European Commission on the Rule of Law in Greece in 2025, as part of the Commission’s annual monitoring of national systems.
We underlined the now urgent need to address the longstanding rule of law concerns in Greece. The issues documented in the report are interconnected and have nefarious effects on an array of facets of the rule of law, from justice, law-making and transparency rules to press freedom, civil society and data protection.
Our organisations have submitted this report to the European Commission and thoroughly document the pervasive, interconnected issues and deficiencies within Greek institutions as we experience them in our daily work and reality. We will continue to defend the Rule of Law in Greece. We expect no less from the institutions tasked with safeguarding it.
The participation of Homo Digitalis in the 4th In-House Lawyers Forum was successfully completed
The participation of Homo Digitalis in the 4th In-House Lawyers Forum was successfully completed. The event took place on February 4 at the Divani Caravel Hotel and was organized by CLEON Conferences & Communications. The organization was represented by its Co-Founder, Stefanos Vitoratos.
The Forum brought together leading legal minds to explore the evolving role of legal professionals and tackle key topics shaping in-house practice today, from cutting-edge legal issues and AI adoption to cyber resilience, well-being, and leadership perspectives in the corporate setting.
Stefanos talked about ΑΙ Generated Scams, Deepfakes and Voice clones.
The 2nd Plenary meeting of GAIN was successfully completed
The 2nd Plenary Meeting of the Civil Society Cooperation Network on Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence in Greece, “Greek Artificial Intelligence Network – GAIN,” was successfully completed.
Specifically, on January 26, 2026, at the offices of WHEN, the members and observers of the network discussed its operation, while two educational seminars were presented during the event.
The first was delivered by the Hellenic Informatics Union and Harris Georgiou, titled “Limitations of AI and risks from ‘blind’ trust in GenAI.” The second was presented by DIOTIMA and Anna Vougiouka, titled “Gender biases and inequalities in the development and use of Artificial Intelligence systems.”
The initiative is coordinated by the Homo Digitalis team, with the support of the European AI & Society Fund (EAISF). We warmly thank all participating organizations for their active engagement.
The organizations participating in the network’s processes as members or external observers are (in alphabetical order):
Open Lab Athens
Interdisciplinary Society for Research in Hematology – DETEA
Network for Children’s Rights
Consumers’ Association “The Quality of Life” – EKPIZO
Hellenic League for Human Rights
Greek Council for Refugees
Greek Forum of Migrants
Association for Regional Development and Mental Health (EPAPSY)
Hellenic Informatics Union
Institute for Regulatory Policy Research (INERP)
Diotima Centre for Gender Rights and Equality
KEAN – Cell of Alternative Youth Activities
Me Alla Matia NPO
Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS)
Copwatch – Police Accountability Observatory (copwatch.gr)
REVMA – Roma Educational Vocational Maintainable Assistance
Athens Network of Collaborating Experts (ANCE)
DATAWO
ERGO.Academy (ERGO NGO)
HIAS Greece
Homo Digitalis
I Have Rights.
In contACT
inside story.
KnowledgeRights21 (National coordinator for Greece and Cyprus)
omniatv (iCase Social Cooperative Enterprise)
Reporters United
SOLIDARITYNOW
Solomon
VISIBLE MACHINES
Vouliwatch
WHEN.org.gr
WWF Greece
Our educational activities in Messinia were successfully completed, in collaboration with the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation
In 2025, as part of our educational initiatives in Messinia, we partnered with the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation to deliver the educational presentations “Digital Footprint” and “Cyberbullying” in schools across the region.
Through 36 educational presentations in 30 school units, 1,620 students took part in activities highlighting the importance of digital literacy, prevention and responsible online behavior in the digital environment. During the period March–May 2025, presentations were delivered in 11 schools and during November–December 2025, in 19 schools.
This collaboration underscores the importance of partnerships between educational institutions and charitable foundations, with the shared goal of strengthening knowledge and ensuring the safety of children and young people.
Risk Management in the Digital World - A Chore or A Necessity?
Written by Ioannis Ntokos*
“Nothing in life is certain but death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin (or someone before him) once said. But the phrase could well include another component, risk. “Death, taxes, and risk.” In the digital world, risks are a constant that we must take into account, whether as citizens, product or service providers, or as experts in the field of risk management. Let’s see how proper risk management can provide certainty and security in the digital space.
What does risk mean, and why does it deserve attention?
The digital world changes rapidly, every day. The concept of risk, however, is relatively static: every system, every program, every person using technology creates an “opening,” a vulnerability. These openings are not dangerous in themselves, but they are vulnerable to threats that can exploit them. Consider, for example, a flaw in a computer system at a nuclear power plant, a flawed process for accessing sensitive data, a bad setup of a network switch. The alarm bells are ringing.
The risk is there before you do anything, it is “inherent.” It is there by default, without any protective measures being taken. When you ride a bike, the very act of riding is a risk. In the digital world, the inherent risk arises from things like human carelessness, the complexity of systems, or the value of data shared with others. Risk itself is a certainty, a constant of life. That does not mean we ignore it.
So far, so good. The fact that I cross the threshold of my door every morning is a dangerous situation, theoretically. What is the point of action if the risk is there anyway? The next stage is to identify which risks require attention and action. This requires cold observation and logical thinking. Some risks are more significant than others, so they must go through the risk management "filter".
Calculating Risk
In its simplest form, risk (numerical or not) is simply a function of probability and impact. A given risk has (negative) consequences (impact) with some frequency (probability). Being able to quantify the variables of probability and impact in a quantitative way (using precise and detailed numbers, usually monetary for impact and annual occurrence units for probability) or qualitative way (using more arbitrary calculations, usually using a scale from 1 to 5) brings us closer to calculating risk.
In the example of cycling, a risk is my sudden encounter with a brown bear (and the unpleasant consequences that might follow). The likelihood of this happening varies depending on the situation - if I am riding my bike in an area of Korydallos, the chances of encountering a bear are close to zero. If I have gone cycling in the Pindos mountains, the situation changes dramatically. The impact of the encounter with the bear also changes. If I carry bear spray or have watched many videos on how to deal with a brown bear (the author of this article has watched quite a few such videos), I may escape with bruises and scratches (or a broken bicycle). If I lack knowledge and tools, things become more difficult.
Here the importance of protective measures and the transition from inherent to residual risk also becomes apparent. Through the protective measures at my disposal (spray), I can lower the impact of the encounter from certain death to admission to the hospital for stitches. Residual risk is the risk that remains after we take protective measures against it! Protective measures are an integral part of risk management.
Risk Management Methods
There are four appropriate ways to deal with a risk, once it has been perceived (and quantified or quantified). These options are: acceptance, transfer, reduction or elimination.
Acceptance means that you understand the risk and hold on to it, not passively or ignorantly, but rationally. Some risks are so small that it costs more to deal with them than to accept them. If I ride my bike downtown, I accept the infinitesimal chance (0.00001%) that a bear will attack me, and I enjoy my ride.
Transfer is the assignment of risk to someone else (usually through insurance). The risk does not disappear, it simply changes hands. The responsibility remains with the person subject to the risk, but there is coverage in case of damage due to the risk. In the bear scenario, I hope my insurance covers such attacks, or at least my family receives a lump sum (through my life insurance) in case the spray doesn’t help.
Speaking of spray, this is a risk reduction method! Reduction means that you limit the likelihood or impact, and it is the most common method of dealing with risks. This includes any form of preventive protection. Every protective measure I take aims to reduce the risk. If I’m out cycling in the Pindus Mountains with 10 other friends, the chances of the bear attacking me instead of one of them are drastically reduced!
Elimination is the most absolute option, as you move away from the risk and its source. Elimination is the final cleanup: the recognition that something is beyond “patching.” Are there many hungry bears on the mountain I’m planning to visit? I choose the sea instead of the mountain and I have peace of mind!
While the above ways of dealing with risk are all tried and tested, there is one reaction that is not legitimate - risk ignorance. Knowing the risk and consciously choosing to ignore it will inevitably lead to negative results!
Dealing with risk in the digital world
Risks similar to a random bear encounter exist in the digital and online space, only instead of hungry four-legged friends, we encounter hackers, abused platforms, the use of artificial intelligence that violates human rights and defective hardware. And with the same logic as our trip to the forest, these risks require special treatment, taking into account the following basic principles:
- Risk management is not a single event, but a cycle. You identify, assess, act, and regularly review. The digital world is constantly changing, which means that the risk landscape is also changing. What was secure in the morning may be vulnerable by evening. Technology waits for no one - and the associated risks must be constantly recorded and addressed.
- A holistic approach to risk is crucial. One gap is enough to cause radical damage to citizens, users, and businesses. Partial protection creates a false sense of security. In the digital space, the weak point is often not the most obvious. It can be the forgotten file, the inadequate password, the external partner using a fragile application. Therefore, a holistic view is required.
- It is also necessary to understand that risk is not only technical, but also organizational, human, or procedural. In practice, most damage results from mistakes, omissions, or misunderstandings. Technology simply exacerbates the consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to address it from many different angles.
- Awareness and education on information and data protection issues are key to reducing risks. No matter how organized you are, there will always be someone who will write their passwords in plain sight, open the wrong file, or accidentally press “delete.” The human element cannot be eliminated.
- Prevention is always cheaper than recovery. For the average user, risk management may seem like a chore, but the reality is that the world of technology has grown so much that ignorance of risk is costly. Just as no one waits to install an alarm system after a break-in, risk management works best before bad things happen.
The essence of risk management is targeted clarity: although absolute security is not possible, we strive for stability while trying to avoid major mistakes. When you understand this, risk management ceases to be a burden. It becomes an organized and coordinated effort, and then a habit. A kind of mental exercise where you ask: “What could go wrong? How much do I care? What do I do about it?” Not as an exercise in fear, but as an exercise in pure reasoning and protection. Risk will always be there. Managing it is a conscious choice, and awareness is a tool.
*Ioannis Ntokos is an IT risk management, information security and third party risk management specialist, with expertise in data protection. He specializes in ISO27001, NIST, NIS2 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In his spare time, he offers career advice on IT governance, risk and compliance through his YouTube channel