Do you have a passport?

Then the Hellenic Police has also unlawfully stored your biometric data in a central database!

High-resolution facial photographs, such as those required for our passports, are considered biometric data. Their processing, however, is subject to strict rules.

European Union law provides that the photograph must be stored on the microchip embedded in the passport itself. The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that, if a Member State wishes to retain these photographs in a central database as well, there must be a clear national law explicitly providing for this.

The Hellenic Police maintains that Article 9 of Presidential Decree 178/2014 provides this legal basis. We disagree. This provision refers only to the maintenance of an electronic register of passports and statistical data, and does not explicitly provide for the storage of biometric data.

In June 2020, Homo Digitalis represented two citizens and lodged complaints with the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA).

In January 2026, we were informed by the HDPA that the cases were still pending. More than six years have passed since the complaints were filed.