Statements by Homo Digitalis in Kathimerini on speech recording and online advertising
Journalist Giannis Papadopoulos in his article for Kathimerini newspaper discusses the recent revelations about the “Active Listening” function of the advertising company Cox Media Group.
Specifically, in a corporate presentation trying to promote this feature to its customers, Cox Media Group claimed that it could “eavesdrop” on conversations of users of mobile phones and other smart devices and with the help of artificial intelligence create targeted ads. The Company’s existing customer base includes major technology companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon.
Lamprini Gyftokosta and Eleftherios Chelioudakis provided statements for Homo Digitalis to the reporter regarding both mobile phone settings and the challenges that arise in protecting the personal data and privacy of users through the dark patterns used by the tech giants.
We are very grateful to the journalist for his interest in our posts. You can read his article here.
In a related article-opinion hosted by Kathimerini newspaper and co-authored by Lillian Mitrou, Professor at the University of the Aegean and Vassilis Karkatzounis, PhD candidate at the University of the Aegean, important observations are provided regarding the challenges arising from the application of legislation in the complex environment of online advertising. You can read the article here.
Finally, we recall that as early as 2020, Homo Digitalis has already taken strategic legal action at the European level with our complaints against Google and IAB Europe in the context of their intrusive practices of targeted behavioural advertising. Our cases are pending before the Irish and Belgian authorities respectively and we expect decisions on these cases to be issued shortly. You can read more here.
New Book: #FakeYou – Don’t blame the people; don’t blame the Internet. Blame the power
Our friends from the digital rights civil society organization Xnet published recently the book “#FakeYou – Don’t blame the people; don’t blame the Internet. Blame the power”.
The book’s lead author is Simona Levi, while it is the activist’s guide to defeating fake news and blocking policies that use disinformation to curtail civil rights and freedoms.
You can freely read and download the book here.
We published an article on Nomiki Bibliothiki's website about CSAR
This is a crucial period for the proposed European Regulation on preventing and combating child sexual abuse online (Child Sexual Abuse Regulation -CSAR).
In the context of these important developments, our co-founding members Elefterios Chelioudakis and Stefanos Vitoratos prepared a detailed article for the NB Daily website in order to highlight the relevant issues.
We would like to thank the editorial team of Nomiki Bibliothiki for their cooperation.
You can read the article here.
We give a lecture at the OSCE's three-day training seminar on the protection of human rights at the borders
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) organizes next week its training course for human rights defenders working at international borders in Warsaw! The three-day training course aims to enable human rights defenders to understand the human rights implications of border technologies and to improve their skills in collecting and verifying information through various means, including new technologies, for effective human rights monitoring at borders.
On a pro bono basis, Homo Digitalis and HIAS Greece will give a lecture during the training course related to our great success with the KENTAUROS and HYPERION case!
Our lecture titled “Combating Centaurs and Titans – Leveraging Data Protection Law to Counter Intrusive Surveillance in Migration” will focus on how data protection law can be strategically employed to challenge invasive surveillance technologies used in migration. Eleftherios Chelioudakis will represent Homo Digitalis in this lecture.
We would like to thank the organizers for their kind invitation, as well as HIAS Greece for the great collaboration.
You can find more information about the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) here.
We give a lecture on AI ACT at company bora
Tomorrow, June 20, Homo Digitalis will give a talk-seminar on AI Act before the workforce and partners of the company bora.
Specifically, Homo Digitalis’ AI & Human Rights Manager, Lamprini Gyftokosta, in a 1-hour web presentation in English, will take a deep dive into the important provisions of the new legislation and discuss relevant compliance challenges with the audience!
Many thanks to bora for the kind invitation to host this seminar, and especially to Anastasios Arampatzis, Joe Pettit & David Turner!
You can learn more about bora here.
If you would also like to invite Homo Digitalis to provide a relevant seminar to your employees, you can express your interest at info@homodigitalis.gr
Homo Digitalis speaks at the 2nd Colour of Surveillance Conference
Homo Digitalis has the great honour and pleasure to speak at the 2nd European Colour of Surveillance Conference “Liberation Practices in times of Fascism”, which this time is being held on 26 & 27 June in Berlin by the organisations Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice, International Women* Space and Weaving Liberation!
Specifically, Homo Digitalis’ Director of Human Rights & AI, Lamprini Gyftokosta, will give a speech in the framework of the Workshop “Blue: the colour of surveillance In Greece: lessons from challenging Migration Tech” during the second day of the conference!
We would like to thank the organizers for the kind invitation and hospitality!
You can learn more about the conference programme here.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Homo Digitalis is a member of the Europeana Network Association (ENA)
Homo Digitalis is now a member of the Europeana Network Association (ENA)! ENA is under the auspices of the Digital Library Europeana, which offers access to millions of books, maps, audio recordings, photographs, archival documents, paintings and films, as well as other materials from national libraries and cultural institutions in the 27 Member States of the European Union. ENA is a strong and democratic community of people working, studying or interested in digital cultural heritage and the use of new technologies in education and the arts.
Homo Digitalis is involved in three different working groups: The EuropeanaTech Community, the Europeana Education Community και the Europeana Copyright!
Despite the fact that we have already been in contact since 2018 and have participated in events and presentations of Europeana’s work, it is a great honour and pleasure for Homo Digitalis to be now an official member of ENA!
In these working groups we will be represented by our Co-Founder, Eleftherios Chelioudakis.
We spoke to the newspaper Kathimerini and journalist Yannis Papadopoulos about the leak of personal data to Christie's Auction House
On 30 May, international auction house Christie’s sent an email to its customers to inform them that their personal data had been hacked, and on 3 June a lawsuit was filed in New York for damages against the international auction house.
The journalist of Kathimerini newspaper, Yiannis Papadopoulos, wrote a detailed article on this case, and Homo Digitalis provided relevant comments, with Eleftherios Chelioudakis representing us.
We thank the journalist for his interest in our views.
You can read the article here.
We spoke at an event hosted by KEPSIPI in the context of the Erasmus+ Digital Learning and Social Intervention programme
On Thursday 23rd of May we had the pleasure to participate in the event organized by KEPSIPI in the framework of the Erasmus+ Digital Learning and Social Intervention project and to talk about digital learning and the importance of personal data for social workers from Greece, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Romania and the challenges of using AI tools in the field of social intervention. We would like to thank Ms. Margarita Moraitou for the invitation and her efforts to highlight this issue both nationally and European-wide.
Our Director for AI and New Technologies, Lamprini Gyftokosta, spoke representing Homo Digitalis at the event.
You can learn more about the work and activities of the Centre for Mental and Pedagogical Health here.