Homo Digitalis Interview on ANT1's show "Your Business Can" with Fai Chrysοchoou
On Sunday, March 9, Homo Digitalis was featured on ANT1’s program “Your Business Can”, hosted by journalist Fai Chrysοchoou.
A huge thank you to the journalist and her team, including Toni Aravadinos, for the kind invitation and their interest in our work!
Key Discussion Points
Representing Homo Digitalis, Eleftherios Chelioudakis spoke about:
–Artificial Intelligence and its regulatory framework
–How legislation acts as a driver of innovation, trust, and entrepreneurship
The Reality of AI & Business Growth
Many non-EU tech companies have historically followed the “Move Fast and Break Things” model, leading to:
–Numerous violations & fines imposed by European regulators
–Social polarization and addiction to social media
–The spread of misinformation
Why Compliance is an Advantage
–Businesses that comply with regulations gain a competitive edge
–Strong legal foundations enable sustainable growth
-Compliance fosters trust, stability, and access to the unified digital market
Ultimately, legislation does not hinder business—it fuels long-term success and strengthens democratic societies!
Interview with Lamprini Gyftokosta of Homo Digitalis in ELLE GREECE’s Feature for International Women’s Day
The magazine ELLE GREECE marks this year’s International Women’s Day (March 8) as a call to action—an opportunity to highlight the power and necessity of demanding rights, the right of every woman to speak up, take up space, and resist the violence inflicted upon her.
In her feature, journalist Foteini Simou brings together women and femininities who raise their voices in unison! They perform on stage, write poetry and songs, engage in drag, and examine issues ranging from the Rule of Law to the unchecked and insatiable digital expansion of Artificial Intelligence.
We are deeply honored that Lamprini Gyftokosta represents Homo Digitalis in this feature, speaking about the urgent need to protect our privacy in a world where sharing personal information has become an everyday norm!
Featured Participants:
The tribute also includes remarkable voices such as:
–Natasa Exintaveloni (actress)
–Erofili Kokkali (writer, sexual health counselor)
–Eleni Alexandraki (director)
–Olina (musician)
–Maria Konstantopoulou (poet, singer)
–Rainbow Mermaids – Katina Bella & Mystic Van Rouge (drag queens)
–Stavroula Papadaki (poet)
–Anastasia Yamali (journalist)
–Maria Nathanael (legal advisor, communications manager at Vouliwatch)
–Christianna Stylianidou (legal advisor, researcher at Vouliwatch)
–Eleni Apostolopoulou (actress, director, member of Potlatch Publications)
–Elli Kriona Saranti (lawyer, legal coordinator at HIAS Greece)
Read the full feature in the March issue of ELLE, available at kiosks and onlinehere.
We co-sign an CSO Open Letter on the proposed GDPR Procedural Regulation
As the trilateral negotiations at the EU level continue regarding the proposed regulation on additional procedural rules for the enforcement of the GDPR, we, together with European Digital Rights and 34 other Civil Society organizations, join our voices in an open letter to lawmakers!
We urge them to prioritize strong enforcement mechanisms that ensure individuals can effectively exercise their rights while highlighting the systemic weaknesses in the enforcement of GDPR provisions.
Read the open letter here.
We sign a common CSO statement for the AI Summit on the protection of environment
Ahead of the AI Action Summit in France, 100+ civil society organisations from around the world have an urgent message for governments and industry leaders: The environmental and human costs of AI are too high – we need action now.
Our 5 key demands:
-Phase out fossil fuels
-Bring computing within limits
-Ensure responsible supply chains
-Enable equitable participation
-Advance meaningful transparency It’s time for AI to be sustainable, just, and accountable.
You can read our full demands here.
You can co-sign our common statement here.
Press Release DEMOCRACY WITH NO AIR The State of the Rule of Law in Greece Today
On Tuesday 4 February, a Press Conference on the current state of the Rule of Law in Greece was successfully held at the Athens Bar Association with a significant turnout. The event was organised by the independent organisations Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), HIAS Greece, Homo Digitalis, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Reporters United, Solomon, and Vouliwatch.
You can watch the Press Conference here.
We warmly thank omniatv for organising and hosting the event.
The event was moderated by journalist Natasa Giamali. Representatives of the collaborating organisations presented the main points of the joint report submitted for the third consecutive year to the European Commission on the Rule of Law in Greece in 2024. This submission is part of the Commission’s annual review of national systems.
The speakers emphasised the key systemic issues undermining the Rule of Law in Greece. These issues, coupled with the growing authoritarianism in politics and attacks on human rights, cast a dark shadow over democracy, posing significant threats.
The urgency of the organisations’ call to the European Commission was also highlighted, pressing a shift in its approach and the need to focus not on the state’s “commitments” or “intentions” but on the accurate depiction of the situation in the country. Systematic violations of the fundamental principles of the Rule of Law must not be treated as isolated incidents.
Alexandros Mantzoutsos, Counselor and former Vice President of the Athens Bar Association, delivered a brief greeting.
Key presentations of the report
Stefanos Loukopoulos, Director of Vouliwatch:
“When the State itself undermines principles, procedures, and institutional counterweights through authoritarianism, impunity, and legal inconsistency, it fuels citizens’ distrust in institutions and leads, with mathematical certainty, to societal authoritarianism, with incalculable consequences for the future of Democracy.”
Minos Mouzourakis, lawyer at Refugee Support Aegean (RSA):
“There is a common thread connecting the Tempi train crash, the Pylos shipwreck, the wiretapping of politicians and journalists, the violent disappearances of refugees in Evros and the Aegean, and police brutality: the inability of the Greek justice system to fulfil its duty to attribute responsibility for arbitrariness and criminal offences perpetrated by the state.”
Additional statements from representatives of the other organisations
Alexandros Konstantinou, Lawyer, Greek Council for Refugees (GCR):
“Recently, the European Court of Human Rights found for the first time the ineffectiveness of the Greek criminal justice system in investigating pushback cases (A.R.E. v. Greece, Judgment of 7 January 2025). These cases, involving unlawful actions by state authorities, strike at the core of the Rule of Law. This finding by the Court comes at a time when issues of accountability and justice are central to public discourse and should seriously concern all relevant state bodies, including the Greek Judiciary.”
Elli Kriona-Saranti, Lawyer, HIAS Greece:
“The trend of abusive criminalisation of migrants, human rights defenders and lawyers as smugglers persists, despite continued objections from national, international and European human rights bodies.”
Thodoris Chondrogiannos, Journalist, Reporters United:
“The wiretapping scandal highlights the systemic flaws in the Rule of Law amidst systematic violations of the constitutionally guaranteed confidentiality of communications: Government attacks against the President of ADAE, judicial harassment of its members, the violation of the enhanced majority requirement of the Conference of Presidents of Parliament (⅗) for replacing ADAE members and preventing sanctions against the National Intelligence Service (EYP), the obstruction of investigating the joint EYP-Predator center, and the ‘legalisation’ of surveillance against ministers, politicians, journalists, and military officials, the violation of the obligation of EYP to immediately inform ADAE, and lawsuits against journalists.”
Danai Maragoudaki, Journalist, Solomon:
“The excessive concentration of major media outlets in the hands of a few powerful business-people, the interdependence of the media, the state, and the banks, and the inability of regulatory authorities to ensure the necessary level of transparency create a suffocating operating environment that undermines not only pluralism but democracy as a whole in the country.”
Katerina Pournara, Lawyer, Vice President of the Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR):
“In a period when trust in democratic institutions is shaken by incidents such as the Tempi train crash and the Pylos shipwreck, unreasonable and unlawful police violence not only threatens individual freedoms but also undermines democracy, fostering the authoritarianism of state institutions.”
Lamprini Gyftokosta, Director of Human Rights & Artificial Intelligence, Homo Digitalis:
“The protection of personal data is a fundamental right and a critical issue for democracy and transparency in our country. The fines imposed by the Data Protection Authority, amounting to €775,000 on three Ministries in 2024 alone, highlight the non-compliance of state bodies with existing legislation, undermining the Rule of Law and deepening citizens’ mistrust in institutions.”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
FULL REPORT |
Open Letter to the President of the European Commission to Stand Up Against Big Tech Companies
Over 40 civil society organizations, across the EU and the US, have an urgent message for the European Commission and President Ursula von der Leyen. Now is the time to stand up to the bullying by Big Tech companies and their allies in the Trump administration.
Europe must commit to strong enforcement of the DSA, DMA regulations, and other digital laws to protect people, our democracy, and our economy!
Read our open letter here.
We are granting our patronage to the 3RD IN-HOUSE LAWYERS FORUM
Once again, Homo Digitalis has the great honor and pleasure of granting its patronage to the 3RD IN-HOUSE LAWYERS FORUM, organized by CLEON Conferences & Communications on January 29th at the Divani Caravel Hotel in Athens!
Among the speakers, we were proud to have some of our members, in their professional capacity, including our Board Secretary, Stefanos Vitoratos!
We thank the organizers for the collaboration, including Mr. Grigorios Leontidis. You can learn more about the conference here.
Our organization voluntarily grants its patronage to selected actions, initiatives, and other events, aiming to actively support and promote initiatives related to the protection of digital rights. If you have relevant goals and are interested in a pro bono collaboration, please contact us at info@homodigitalis.gr.
Apply for the 2nd funding call of NGI TALER!
Make sure to apply to the second #funding call of NGI TALER until June 1st 2024 12:00 CEST (noon)!
Part of the budget of NGI TALER is reserved for open calls to fund free software and privacy preserving efforts that are aligned with the topics and approach of NGI TALER! We invite your contributions to help reshape the state of play of digital payment systems, and to help create an open, trustworthy and reliable internet for all!
We are seeking project proposals between 5.000 and 50.000 euro. The call is open to SMEs, academics, public sector, nonprofits, communities and individuals. You can contribute exciting new capabilities to GNU Taler itself, build auxiliary tools, work on user experience, develop integrations into FOSS applications and open standards (for example, enabling P2P micropayments in an instant messenger, open social media platform or video conferencing tool), or develop improvements to infrastructure components (like merchant backends)!
Visit the website of NGI – The Next Generation Internet for more information about this, and other NGI funding calls here.
Check NLnet foundation‘s website to read the detailed Open Call, the Guide for Applicants, the Eligibility Requirements and our FAQs and submit your form here.
Join now our TALER Intergration Community Hub (TALER ICH) to discuss together and ask your questions here.
We submitted important questions to the Minister of Interior, Ms Kerameos, on the project "Development and operation of a tool for the strategic planning of public sector staffing in terms of artificial intelligence" and its pilot application in 9 institutions
On April 15, Homo Digitalis submitted an electronic letter to the Minister of Interior, Ms Kerameos, regarding the Ministry’s project entitled “Development and operation of a tool for strategic planning of public sector staffing in terms of artificial intelligence”.
Our letter was communicated to the President of the Personal Data Protection Authority, Mr. Menoudakos, and to the Data Protection Officer of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Theocharis.
More specifically, this project relates to the development and operation of a tool for the strategic planning of human resources in the public sector in terms of artificial intelligence and concerns the following axes:
– Creation of an integrated framework for strategic staffing planning (optimal allocation of existing and new staff) in the public sector (including technical specifications for the implementation and revision of existing frameworks)
– Pilot implementation in 9 Public Sector Entities and more specifically in MOD SA, AADE, OAED, Athens General Hospital “G. Municipality of Thessaloniki, Region of Attica, Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Energy and Ministry of Culture and Sports,
– Design of training programmes for (a) users and (b) upgrading the skills of civil servants, and
– Development of the knowledge repository of civil servants.
According to relevant information posted on the website of the Ministry of Interior and articles in various media, the Ministry of Interior is the project manager and has already contracted with Deloitte for its preparation. In fact, according to the timetable, the work has made significant progress.
In its letter, Homo Digitalis requests information from the Minister on a number of questions regarding both the legal framework for the protection of personal data (Law 4624/2019 – GDPR), and the legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence systems by the public sector (Law 4961/2022), as the pilot implementation of the project is expected to take place immediately in the 9 institutions mentioned above.
Specifically, we put the following questions to the Minister in our letter:
-Has the Ministry of Interior carried out a data protection impact assessment before the project was announced, in accordance with the principles of data protection “already by design” and “by default”?
-Has a relevant Data Protection Impact Assessment been carried out specifically in relation to the pilot implementation of the platform in the 9 public bodies?
-If the relevant Assessments have been prepared, has the Ministry considered it necessary to consult the Data Protection Authority in this respect?
-Does the Ministry consider the 9 public bodies as joint controllers and if so, has the Ministry proceeded with the relevant obligations as set out in Article 26 GDPR?
-Can the Ministry inform us of the relevant categories of personal data, the purposes of the processing for which such data are intended, and the legal basis for the processing you intend to use?
-Can the Ministry point us to the exact website where the Ministry of Interior’s contract with Deloitte is posted so that we can study the relevant provisions contained therein, especially with regard to the processing of personal data?
-Finally, has the Ministry of Interior proceeded to comply with the obligations arising from the provisions of Law 4961/2022, and in particular has an algorithmic impact assessment been carried out (Article 5), has it taken the necessary transparency measures (Article 6), has the project contractor fulfilled their obligations in this respect (Article 7), and has the Ministry kept a register (Article 8) in view of the forthcoming pilot use of the system?