Read the Pocket Guide on Protecting Your Privacy During Protests
Today, Friday, February 28, marks two years since the Tempi train tragedy. Strikes and work stoppages have been organized across Greece and abroad to honor the memory of the 57 victims, demand justice, and hold those responsible accountable.
But what about your devices and personal data? How can you take steps to protect them during a protest?
Homo Digitalis, in collaboration with Software Makers, a nonprofit organization based in Heraklion, Crete, has translated and adapted the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) Pocket Guide to Greek legal and practical realities. The guide provides essential steps to take before, during, and after a protest to help you safeguard both yourself and your data.
We stand in solidarity and offer our unwavering support!
The guide is available for download and printing here.
The Protect Not Surveil coalition publishes its report on the Europol Regulation
Today, the #ProtectNotSurveil coalition, in which Homo Digitalis serves as a member, launches its report on the Europol Regulation and calls for the full rejection of the European Commission’s proposal.
The Europol Regulation inadvertently supports the business model of smugglers while criminalising migration.
Crucially, the Europol Regulation:
- expands Europol’s surveillance capacity beyond its mandate under the pretext of fighting ‘migrant smuggling’, giving Europol new powers “in relation to all crimes for which it is competent”;
- The EDPS has already raised concerns that the file poses significant risks to the data and privacy rights of migrants, allowing mass data collection and sharing between Member States and EU agencies with known human rights violations (Frontex), as well as third countries without any legal basis for data sharing with the EU;
- The proposal is unsafe and unsubstantiated, presented without a proper impact assessment and based on false claims that smugglers pose the greatest threat to the safety of migrants (UN report);
- Millions in EU public funds will be wasted on Europol’s new activities for a false solution to migration management that simply will not work.
A summary of our position was also published in EUobserver. The full report is available here.
4 million euros were spent by the Greek Police to issue fines related to violations of the Road Traffic Code
Back in 2019, we started one of our first actions in the field of artificial intelligence by bringing to light the Smart Policing program of the Greek Police in collaboration with Intracom-Telecom.
The purpose of this project? The purchase of 1,000 portable devices that would enable functions like facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, document identification, and license plate recognition in urban centers during police checks.
We acted promptly and, in March 2020, requested the Data Protection Authority to investigate the matter, as, according to our legal analysis, processing biometric data in the context of using these devices would not be legal.
Since August 2020, the Authority has been investigating the case. The State paid the 4 million euros, and the company delivered the devices to the Hellenic Police. The latest development was in October 2024, when the Hellenic Police decided, starting from the first quarter of 2025, to use the document/license plate recognition functions of the devices to issue fines for violations of the Road Traffic Code.
We are glad that our swift action and the investigation by the Data Protection Authority froze the use of the invasive facial recognition and fingerprint scanning functions of these devices. However, the relevant decision by the Authority must be published immediately.
The 4.5 years of investigation by the Data Protection Authority also reveal that the state must support the Data Protection Authority, as the high level of expertise of its inspectors is not enough, and more human and financial resources are needed. And all this without considering the increased workload expected in the coming years with the AI Act.
You can read more about this in our latest study on the AI Act, pages 51-54 here.
We spoke to the newspaper Kathimerini and journalist Vassilis Andrianopoulos about cyber-bullying
Konstantinos Kakavoulis, co-founder and Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Homo Digitalis, gave comments to the newspaper Kathimerini and journalist Vassilis Andrianopoulos on cyber-bullying and Homo Digitalis’ related pro bono actions.
We would like to thank the newspaper Kathimerini and the journalist for their interest in our actions.
You can read the article here.
We call on the Greek DPA to investigate the Ministry of Interior for the use of artificial intelligence algorithms for the reallocation of employees in the public sector
On 9 July Homo Digitalis filed a request (no. 5812/9.7.2024) before the Greek Data Protection Authority, in order for the latter to exercise its investigative powers against the Ministry of Interior.
In particular, following the Authority’s Decision 16/2024 in April 2024, by which it had imposed a record fine of 400,000 euros on the Ministry of Interior for significant breaches of data protection legislation, the Ministry is again in the spotlight, this time for the artificial intelligence tool it is developing for strategic staffing planning in the public sector.
The tool concerns the reallocation of existing staff and the estimation of the needs for new staff, while it will be piloted in 9 public sector institutions, namely the Development Programmes Organisation and Management Unit, the Independent Public Expenditure Authority, the Public Employment Service, the Athens General Hospital “G. Gennimatas Hospital, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Region of Attica, the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The project is expected to be completed in December 2025, at a cost of €11,708,543.
Because the tool needs to include functionalities for the collection, management and analysis of personal data, Homo Digitalis had filed a letter on 15 April 2024 before the then Minister of Interior Ms.Kerameos and the Data Protection Officer of the Ministry, in which it raised key questions regarding both the compliance required with the legislation on the protection of personal data and the legislation on the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies in the public sector (Law 4961/2022). However, the Ministry did not provide any response, even after a written reminder of our request on 30 May, forcing us to address the DPA to investigate thoroughly the development, implementation and piloting of this tool and the implications for the rights of public sector employees.
You can see our request here (EL).
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.
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)