Homo Digitalis' actions in the field of Artificial Intelligence featured in No.1 Academic Legal Journal in the world, the Computer Law & Security Review Journal

The important actions of Homo Digitalis and its allies in the field of border maangement are featured in the internationally renowned and world’s first in its category academic legal journal “Computer Law & Security Review Journal”, published by Elsevier.

In particular, our co-founder Eleftherios Chelioudakis recently published his article in this legal journal (Volume 53, 2024) entitled “Unpacking AI-enabled border management technologies in Greece: to what extent their development and deployment are transparent and respect dataprotection rules?”

We would like to thank the Editors of the Special Issue of the journal entitled “Vulnerability, Marginalisation and Data Protection Law” Katerina Demetzou and Gianclaudio Malgieri for their excellent cooperation.

Elsevier has provided for a short period of time (until 2/6) a link through which everyone can download/read the article completely free of charge, available here.


Interview of Homo Digitalis in mononews about our great success and the 175.000 euro fine of the Greek DPA to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration

Homo Digitalis spoke to mononews and journalist Alexianna Tsotsou for her report on our complaint against the KENTAUROS and YPERION systems and the 175,000 euro fine imposed by the Greek Data Protection Authority on the Ministry of Asylum and Migration. Comments on Homo Digitalis were provided by our Co-Founder and Lawyer, Eleftherios Chelioudakis

You can read the article here.

We would like to thank the journalist for her cooperation, her detailed reporting and her interest in our actions.

 


Homo Digitalis' interview with Computer Weekly about our great success and the 175,000 euro fine imposed by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration

Homo Digitalis spoke to Computer Weekly and journalist Lydia Emmanouilidou for her report on our complaint against the KENTAUROS and YPERION systems and the 175,000 euro fine imposed by the Greek Data Protection Authority on the Ministry of Asylum and Migration. Comments on Homo Digitalis were provided by our Co-Founder and Lawyer, Eleftherios Chelioudakis.

You can read the article here.

We would like to thank the journalist for her cooperation, her revealing report and her interest in our actions.

 


Interview of Homo Digitalis on Netzpolitik.org about our great success and the 175.000 euro fine of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration

Homo Digitalis spoke to Netzpolitik.org and journalist Chris Kover for their report on our complaint against the KENTAUROS and YPERION systems and the 175,000 euro fine imposed by the Greek Data Protection Authority on the Ministry of Asylum and Migration. Comments on Homo Digitalis were provided by our Co-Founder and Lawyer, Eleftherios Chelioudakis

You can read the article here.

We would like to thank the journalist for her cooperation and interest in our actions.


Interview of Homo Digitalis to SOLOMON for our great success and the 175.000 euro fine of the Hellenic DPA to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration

Homo Digitalis spoke to SOLOMON and journalists Lydia Emmanouilidou and Apostolis Fotiadis for their report on our complaint against the KENTAUROS and YPERION systems and the 175,000 euro fine imposed by the Greek Data Protection Authority on the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. Comments on Homo Digitalis were provided by our Co-Founder and Lawyer, Eleftherios Chelioudakis.

You can read the article and the journalists’ important revelations here.

We sincerely thank the journalists for their cooperation and interest in our actions.

 


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.


We spoke at the Legal Seminar 2023 on EU Law and Undocumented Migrants in Brussels!

On 29 and 30 November, Homo Digitalis’ Director for Human Rights and AI, Lambrini Gyftokosta, spoke at the “Legal Seminar 2023 on EU Law and Undocumented Migrants” organized by the Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and Equinox: Racial Justice Initiative at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel!

The two-day seminar examined the intersection of racial profiling, policing and immigration control. We presented three of Homo Digitalis’ actions in Greece on digital rights violations, which further blurred the boundaries between criminal and immigration law.

We were joined on the discussion panel by an amazing group of experts, namely Selma Benkhelifa (Progress Lawyers Network-Brussels), Sara Traylor (Alarm phone) and Laure Baudrihaye-Gérard (moderator, independent expert).

We would like to thank PICUM and Equinox for the invitation and for organising such an event exploring the pitfalls of the current EU legal framework on immigration. It was a great honour to participate!!! You can read more about the two-day event here.