Pro bono Educational Presentation at the Leontio School of Nea Smyrni
Yesterday Lamprini Gyftokosta and Konstantinos Kakavoulis spoke with the students of the Leontio School of Nea Smyrni about the digital footprint and their rights.
We would like to thank the students and teachers for the excellent interactive discussion.
Homo Digitalis briefings in schools all over Greece continue!
We gave one of our greates interviews... in the school newspaper and the web channel of the 1st Model High School of Ilion
On Friday 15/12 Homo Digitalis gave one of the most beautiful interviews it has ever given!
Lambrini Gyftokosta and Konstantinos Kakavoulis talked about the digital footprint in the group of the school newspaper and the web channel of the 1st Model High School of Ilion!
We would like to thank teachers Chrysanthi Sotiropoulou and Ioanna Kassimi for hosting us and of course the students who impressed us with their questions and interest!
We wish the best to the young journalists and we are sure that we will have many more opportunities to meet them in the future!
You can read the article in the school newspaper 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.
Participation of Homo Digitalis with an intevention at the Public Consultation of the Competition Commission in the framework of its Final Report on the Sector Inquiry into the Provision of Private Health Care and Related Insurance Services.
On 30 November, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) organised a Public Consultation in the context of its final Report on the Sector Inquiry into the provision of private healthcare and related insurance services.
The President of Homo Digitalis, Elpida Vamvaka, received an honorary invitation from the Competition Commission and its Chairman, Mr. Ioannis Lianos, to attend this Public Consultation and to make a statement. We thank them warmly for their practical interest in the views of Civil Society!
In our statement we welcomed the initiative of Eur. Commission’s initiative to create the European Health Data Space (“EHDS”) and its intention to provide for common rules and interoperable data standards that will facilitate the exchange of health data when it is in the medical interest of patients.
At the same time, we have not failed to highlight the highly problematic new rules that will completely limit medical privacy and the reasonable expectations of privacy that citizens have when they trust their doctor.
You can read more on the website of the Hellenic Competition Commission here.
Participation in TechTalk Podcast
Last week we had the pleasure of participating in a very interesting, interdisciplinary discussion about Technology in the presentation of the new TechTalk technology podcast, where we discussed the topic of the first episode “What is Technology?”!
So how is technology designed, and how does it affect our lives? Is technology neutral? How can we regulate the exponential growth of technology after we’ve gotten used to it?
Elpida Vamvaka had the pleasure of having this discussion about Homo Digitalis with an excellent interlocutor Vasilis Vlachokyriakos, Professor at Newcastle University and founder of Open Lab Athens !
Thanks to Sociality and Open Lab Athens for the invitation! We look forward to the next ones! Read in detail what was discussed and listen to the first episode of the podcast here.
We participated in the DFF's Berlin event on the use of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in our legal actions
Last week we participated in the workshop organised by DFF in Berlin focusing on the importance of using the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in our legal actions!
DFF launched the digiRISE project to raise awareness of the potential of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in defending and protecting digital rights.
The workshop was attended by Privacy International, Access Now, Share Foundation and many other civil society organisations.
Homo Digitalis was represented by Elpida Vamvaka, President of the Board of Homo Digitalis.
Many congratulations to the DFF team for the organization!
The opening of the 2 exhibitions we co-organize at JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa was a great success
Last Thursday, 16/11 we had the opening of the exhibition TheGlassRoom and its two editions, Misinformation and What The F*ture Wants, at the wonderful premises of JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa.
Many local TV channels were there to cover the event, including Thessalia Television, where Katerina Diminikou, Stefanos Vitoratos and Anastasios Arabatzis gave statements. Many thanks to the channel for the coverage of the inauguration and the interest in our actions!
It is a great honor for us and our partners from Open Lab Athens and Digital Detox Experience to bring to Greece and outside of Athens these unique exhibitions of high educational character of Tactical Tech and we would like to thank once again Joist Innovation Park for the unique hospitality.
Admission to the exhibitions is free and they will be available in Larissa for young and old until December 15. You can see highlights and statements from the interview here.
Opening of the exhibitions we co-organize at JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa
Today is the opening of The Glass Room Exhibition and its two editions, Misinformation and What The Future Wants, at JOIST Innovation Park in Larissa.
It is a great honor for all of us at Homo Digitalis, Open Lab Athens and Digital Detox Experience to be able to bring together for the first time in Greece both publications, curated by our dear partners at Tactical Tech!!
The “Misinformation” edition focuses on the concept of misinformation, the way it is formed and evolves. Similarly, “What the F*ture Wants” is an interactive youth-focused version of the exhibition, presenting different aspects of technology, seen from a personal, political and global perspective.
Admission is of course free and we are looking forward to young and old from today until 16 December to enjoy these two unique versions of TheGlassRoom exhibition!
Homo Digitalis was represented at the opening by Stefanos Vitoratos and Anastasios Arampatzis!!! We would like to thank our partners at Tactical Tech, Joist Innovation Park, Open Lab Athens and Digital Detox Experience for this unique collaboration!
The Greek DPA discussed in a Plenary Session our Case on Electronic Communications Metadata Retention
Yesterday, Tuesday 14/11, we were present at the Plenary Session of the Greek DPA during which our case concerning the retention of electronic communications metadata and the right of access to them was discussed. Our Secretary, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, who is the Data Subject in this case, participated there.
In simple terms, metadata allows us to establish who spoke to whom, via which devices, when, for how long, and where the users were approximately located during their conversation. Therefore, metadata is not about the content of the communication but about all the other accompanying elements of the communication. All electronic communications providers in Greece are required to keep it for one year from the date of the communication.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2014 that the retention of this amount of metadata for everyone, everywhere and always, constitutes a mass surveillance measure that allows for particularly accurate conclusions to be drawn with regard to the privacy of the persons whose data has been retained, and violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, ruling Directive 2006/24, which allowed for this, as invalid.
However, the Greek State has not revised until today, almost 10 years later, the Law 3917/2011 that transposes this Directive into the Greek legal landscape, while as Homo Digitalis revealed in 2019 the relevant legislative committee that was asked to prepare a new draft law, an explanatory memorandum and an impact assessment on this matter ever delivered any work in the 5 years of its existence (2014-2019).
We look forward with great interest to the next stages of the process and have full confidence in the work of the Greek DPA.