Watchdog says Interior Ministry, MEP breached data protection laws
Greece’s Personal Data Protection Authority (PDPA) on Monday imposed a 400,000-euro fine on the Ministry of Interior and a 40,000-euro fine on New Democracy MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou for their respective roles in violating data protection regulations.
The fines came after Greeks living abroad accused the Conservative MEP in March this year of sending unsolicited emails ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, in what was dubbed “email-gate.” At the time, Asimakopoulou had refuted claims of breaching data protection laws and had provided contradictory explanations regarding the source of the addresses used for the mass emails.
PDPA said a file of about 25,000 voters registered for the June 2023 elections, for which the ministry is solely responsible for processing and “for which the current legislation does not foresee any reason to send to recipients outside the ministry,” was leaked. It said the breach took place between 8 and 23 June 2023. The list, which included voter emails, was sent to New Democracy’s then Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, Nikos Theodoropoulos, by an unknown individual. Theodoropoulos then forwarded the file to the Conservative MEP on January 20, 2024, who used it to send mass campaign emails.
During the audit at the ministry, the Authority said it “identified shortcomings in the procedures and applied data protection policies, flaws in the investigation of the incident as well as unsubstantiated announcements on the circumstances of the incident,” and also found “shortcomings and inaccuracies” in the kept records of relevant activities.
As for Asimakopoulou, PDPA said that the collection of the voters’ personal data, including emails, and their use for political communication “was in violation of the basic principle of legality, objectivity and transparency of processing, as it was in violation of a series of provisions of the electoral legislation and furthermore could not reasonably be expected” by expat voters.
The authority said it has postponed its verdict on Theodoropoulos and New Democracy to examine new claims submitted by the former on who gave him the list.
The Ministry of Interior said that it will “thoroughly study” the authority’s decision to decide further legal actions.
Following the revelation of the leak in March, the general secretary of the Interior Ministry, Michalis Stavrianoudakis, resigned, Theodoropoulos was dismissed by New Democracy and Asimakopoulou announced that she would not be running in the European Parliament elections.
A separate investigation is being conducted by a prosecutor.
