Homo Digitalis speaks at the 1st Seminar of the GNCHR Educational Seminar Series on “Artificial Intelligence: Levels of Protection”
With great success and active public participation, on Monday, September 29, 2025, the opening event of the Educational Seminar Series of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR) took place in the event hall of the Athens Bar Association (DSA), under the theme:
“The Next Day of Rights: Artificial Intelligence – Sustainability – Securitization.”
Homo Digitalis had the great honor of contributing with a presentation in the first seminar of the series, titled “Artificial Intelligence: Levels of Protection.”
Opening remarks were delivered by Marinetta Gounari–Chatzisarantou, Vice President of the Athens Bar Association, while the event was moderated by Giannis Ioannidis, First Vice President of the GNCHR.
Speakers at the seminar included, in order:
Sofia Kastranta, Senior Legal Advisor, Special Legal Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Efrosini Siougle, Expert Scientist in Informatics, Head of the Advisory and Compliance Mechanisms Department of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority
Eleftherios Chelioudakis, LL.M, M.Sc, Lawyer and Executive Director of Homo Digitalis
Dr. Christos Tsevas, Expert Scientist of the GNCHR
We warmly thank the Greek National Commission for Human Rights for the kind invitation to participate!
You can watch the full event here.
The second seminar will take place at the Athens Bar Association on Monday, October 13, from 17:00 to 19:00, on the topic: “Artificial Intelligence: Rights.”
Find more information here.
We spoke to NEWS247 about the data breach incident involving the Italian company doValue.
Homo Digitalis gave statements to journalist Eftychia Soufleri and NEWS247.gr regarding the hacking of the Italian company doValue, one of the largest loan management companies in Europe.
16 terabytes of personal data — that’s how much hackers claim to have stolen from the company’s systems, even posting an ad on the dark web to sell them. Our Co-founder and Executive Director, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, represented us by giving statements on the matter.
Find out more about here the sensitive personal data collected by debt collection companies, how much such data is worth on the dark web, and what the obligations of the doValue Group and its subsidiaries, including the Greek subsidiary doValue Greece, are — in case the hack also affected their systems, if the hackers’ claims prove true.
We would like to thank the journalist for including our statements in her article.
We spoke to POLITICO about our work in the field of Artificial Intelligence
Homo Digitalis spoke to Ellen O’Regan and POLITICO Europe for our actions in the field of border management next to prominent academics (Niovi Vavoula & Derya Ozkul), civil society organisations (European Digital Rights, Chloé Berthélémy Border Violence Monitoring Network, Pauline Fritz and Equinox: Racial Justice Initiative, Sarah Chander), EU Bodies & Agencies (European Commission, Europol, Claire Georges, Frontex) and the hashtagHellenic hashtagDPA!
Our Executive Director Eleftherios Chelioudakis, LL.M, M.Sc, represented us in this interview.
According to the article, the Hellenic DPA “wants to wrap up two long-running investigations this September, one into the Greek police’s use of portable face and fingerprint scanning tools, and another into the Greek coast guard’s adoption of social media monitoring software.” We are glad to hear that important progress has been made in these two cases initiated by Homo Digitalis and its allies, researcher Phoebus Simeonidis (omniatv), HIAS Greece, Hellenic League for Human Rights, and Privacy International.
Many thanks to the journalist for her interest in our work! Read the full article here.
We prepared an explanatory video on the Greek DPA's Decision on the new ID cards
On Monday 23/9 the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (DPA) issued Decision 32/2024, which relates to the new identity cards for Greek citizens.
The Authority found deficiencies regarding the provision of general information to data subjects, and further found that the required data protection impact assessment was carried out late and deficient. For these reasons, it imposed an administrative fine of EUR 150,000 on the Ministry of Citizen Protection, as controller, for the above infringements, while at the same time it issued a compliance order to the Ministry within six months. Finally, the Authority pointed out the obligation to update and codify the legal framework regarding the details of the new type of identity cards for Greek citizens.
The Decision 32/2024 of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority is available here.
The Homo Digitalis team has prepared a short explanatory video in plain language to highlight some important points of this Decision.
The video is available 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.
Centaur & Hyperion: We asked the Greek DPA whether the Ministry of Immigration & Asylum has made the necessary compliance steps
In the framework of the Decision 13/2024 of the Greek Data Protection Authority (DPA), which was posted on its website on 2/4/2024, the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum was instructed to take all necessary steps to complete its compliance with the obligations of the controller, as described in the body of the Decision, within 3 (three) months from the date of its receipt.
Given that on Tuesday 2/7/2024, 3 months were completed, we decided to send a letter to the DPA on Wednesday 3/7/2024 (ref. no. G/EIS/5662/03-07-2024) requesting to be informed whether the Authority has received any relevant information from the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum regarding the completion of its compliance, as it was obliged to do.
It remains to be seen what level of compliance has been achieved in these three months in a case that is of the utmost importance.
Homo Digitalis interview to France 24 on the MEP Asimakopoulou emails case
Our co-founder, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, represented Homo Digitalis in an interview with France 24 (the French News Agency) about the illegal transfer of personal data of a large number of Greeks living abroad in the hands of the MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou and the relevant political communication she made to them via email in the context of the upcoming European elections.
We are very grateful to France 24 for its interest in our actions. You can read the interview here.
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority fines the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for the "Centaurus" and "Hyperion" systems with the largest penalty ever imposed to a Greek public body
Two years ago, in February 2022, Homo Digitalis had filed a complaint against the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum for the “Centaurus” and “Hyperion” systems deployed in the reception and accommodation facilities for asylum seekers, in cooperation with the civil society organizations Hellenic League for Human Rights and HIAS Greece, as well as the academic Niovi Vavoula.
Today, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority identified significant GDPR violations in this case by the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum and decided to impose a fine of €175.000 euro – the highest ever imposed against a public body in the country.
The detailed analysis of the GDPR highlights the significant shortcomings that the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum had fallen into in the context of preparing a comprehensive and coherent Data Protection Impact Assessment, and demonstrates the significant violations of the GDPR that have been identified and relate to a large number of subjects who have a real hardship in being able to exercise their rights.
Despite the fact that the DPA remains understaffed, with a reduced budget, facing even the the risk of eviction from its premises, it manages to fulfil its mission and maintain citizens’ trust in the Independent Authorities. It remains to be seen how long the DPA will last if the state does not stand by its side.
Of course, nothing ends here. A high fine does not in itself mean anything. The Ministry of Immigration and Asylum must comply within 3 months with its obligations. However, the decision gives us the strength to continue our actions in the field of border protection in order to protect the rights of vulnerable social groups who are targeted by highly intrusive technologies.
You can read our press release here.
You can read Decision 13/2024 on the Authority’s website here.
Homo Digitalis interview with Inside Story about the MEP Asimakopoulou emails' case
The member of Homo Digitalis, Christos Zanganas, represented Homo Digitalis in an interview with Inside.story and journalist Eleftheria Tsaliki on the illegal transfer of personal data of a large number of Greeks living abroad in the hands of the MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou and the relevant political communication she made to them via email in the context of the upcoming European elections.
We are very grateful to the journalist for her interest in our actions. You can read the interview here.