What’s Happening with the 1,000 Smart Policing Devices of the Hellenic Police, Five Years After Our Complaint to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority ?
What is the status of the 1,000 portable smart policing devices used by the Hellenic Police as part of the Smart Policing program, which incorporate artificial intelligence technologies and cost €4 million? (Spoiler alert: the news is not good!)
Journalist Eftychia Soufleri has written a detailed article for NEWS247.gr (THE MAGAZINE) shedding light on the case and highlighting the key actions taken by Homo Digitalis since 2019. Our Executive Director, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, provided statements on behalf of our organization.
Significant Revelations Emerge for the First Time!
According to the report, despite the absence of any legal framework allowing their use, the Hellenic Police:
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Claims to have been using the devices operationally since 2021, even though the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) has been investigating the matter since August 2020 and continues to do so today.
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Confirms that it fully utilizes the biometric processing capabilities of these devices (facial recognition, fingerprint identification).
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Validates what was outlined in the 2018 technical specifications document, namely that the devices are used for “preventive policing”, with the collected data potentially being used in the future to establish correlations, conclusions, and predictive analytics.
Awaiting the HDPA’s Decision
We are still awaiting the Hellenic Data Protection Authority’s decision, as its investigation has now lasted over 4 years and 7 months (initiated in August 2020). The situation is escalating rapidly, and the risks to democracy and human rights protection are extremely high.
A big thank you to the journalist for her interest in our work!
You can read the full article here.
Homo Digitalis talks to Ant1 and Tasos Teloglou about the National Cybersecurity Authority and NIS2
Stefanos Vitoratos and the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou spoke to Tasos Telloglou for his report on ANT1’s Central News on NIS2 and the National Cybersecurity Authority.
The report highlights some elements of the new framework, as well as what is required for the new Authority to be successful in its work. It is important for our country to have a strong National Cybersecurity Authority, properly staffed to meet the ever-increasing challenges.
Homo Digitalis is always available to work with the Authority both in terms of awareness raising and in other areas of its expertise.
You can view the relevant extract here.
Homo Digitalis talks to Inside.Story about the microphone of our mobile phone
Can the mobile phone finally hear us?
Many people believe that the mobile phone microphone is recording us without our knowledge, for advertising purposes. So is this a conspiracy theory or reality?
To inside story. and journalist Rafaela Maneli today published an article analyzing the relevant issues, with the participation of Homo Digitalis’ Director for Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights issues, Lamprini Gyftokosta, in it. You can read the article here.
Thank you very much for the interview and the interest in our actions!