The event “Technology-led Policing: Between Privacy & Security”, organized by Homo Digitalis, was concluded. The main message of the event was the need for the better protection of human rights while the police authorities use new technologies. The event took place on Wednesday 30 September at Technopolis, City of Athens. Unfortunately, the audience could not attend the event with physical presence, due to coronavirus restrictions. However, the event was publicly available through live stream on YouTube.

The event was part of the Digital Ri.Se (Digital Rights & Security) project, which is being funded by the Active Citizens Fund of EEA Grants.

Prominent speakers exchanged views on the use of new technologies by the Greek Police and the legal framework in place, regarding the processing of personal data and the metadata retention.

The event focused at informing the public for the current situation and the challenges arising from it. Furthermore, the event’s aim was to enforce communication and cooperation between all stakeholders.

The event was a big success, since:

1. Firstly, all the subject matter stakeholders spoke all together for the first time since 2014. The emerging need for a new legal framework was their main conclusion, if police authorities intend to use new technologies in the fight against crime. New technologies may be used only in a way, which respects human rights and freedoms. It must be noted that even though the Greek Police was not present at the event, it showed great interest for its conclusions and showed great enthusiasm for this Homo Digitalis initiative. Representatives of the Ministry of Digital Governance, the Data Protection Authority, the Authority for Communication Privacy and Security, members of the judiciary, academics, civil society representatives from Greece and the EU and journalists took part in the discussion. They all showed great enthusiasm for the level of discussion and wait for it to be continued, with a view to drafting a firm legal framework.

2. Secondly, more than 750 citizens watched the event on live stream. The event is now available to watch on YouTube, with the interest on it constantly increasing.

The conclusions of the event shall also be available soon.

As Homo Digitalis, we state that this event marks only the beginning of our efforts to protect human rights, while the Greek Police successfully combats crime. in the digital era.

We warmly thank Active Citizens Fund and EEA and Norway Grants, as well as the Bodossaki Foundation and Solidarity Now. Without them, Digital Ri.Se. could not have been organized.