First lawsuit filed against Greek government over leak of expatriates' emails

The first lawsuit against the Greek government has been filed in connection with the email leak that led to the withdrawal of Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou from the New Democracy party's European Parliament election list and the resignation of the secretary general of the Ministry of the Interior.

The plaintiff, a resident of the Netherlands, is seeking €20,000 from the Greek State, as she states in her lawsuit that, although she had submitted her details for registration on the electoral roll in order to exercise her constitutional right to vote in the national elections on March 1, 2024, «she received an email at the personal email address she had submitted to the Ministry of the Interior containing unsolicited political communication from a member of the European Parliament with whom the plaintiff had had absolutely no previous interaction.».

Following the announcement by the government spokesperson that the leak came from the associate of the Secretary General of Local Government and Decentralization of the Ministry of the Interior to the secretary of expatriates of the New Democracy party, and following the resignation of the Secretary General, the plaintiff is bringing a claim against the Greek State for failing to take the necessary security measures to protect her personal data in accordance with the GDPR. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges a violation of Articles 5, 6, 12, and, in particular, 32(4) of the GDPR, emphasizing the Greek State's failure to ensure that persons who have access to personal data act only on the instructions of the controller.

The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of the plaintiff by lawyer Vasilis Sotiropoulos. As the lawyer states in a post on social media, «the plaintiff, whom our firm represents, had submitted her details for registration on the electoral roll in order to exercise her constitutional right to vote in the 2023 national elections. However, on March 1, 2024, she received an email at her personal email address, which she had submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, containing unsolicited political communication from a member of the Europea2024, she received an email at her personal email address, which she had submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, containing unsolicited political communication from a member of the European Parliament with whom the plaintiff had had absolutely no previous interaction. The plaintiff has already sent an extrajudicial statement to the Member of the European Parliament, exercising her rights under #GDPR to be informed about the origin of her data and protesting against unsolicited communication using her personal data.

Following the announcement by the government spokesperson that the leak came from the associate of the Secretary General of Local Government and Decentralization of the Ministry of the Interior to the secretary of expatriates of the New Democracy party, and following the resignation of the Secretary General, the plaintiff is bringing a claim against the Greek State for failing to take the necessary security measures to protect her personal data in accordance with #GDPR. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges a violation of Articles 5, 6, 12, and, in particular, 32(4) of the GDPR, emphasizing the Greek State's failure to ensure that persons who have access to personal data act only on the instructions of the controller.

In the lawsuit filed today with the Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens, through the electronic filing procedure, the plaintiff invokes two decisions of administrative courts concerning previous cases handled by our firm: decision 2469/2020 of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal, which ordered the State to pay €40,000 to the plaintiff for a security breach that led to the leakage of her data by the Greek Police, and decision 11267/2022 of the Athens Administrative Court of First Instance, which ordered the Municipality of Athens to pay €8,000 to the plaintiff for a security breach that led to the leakage of the plaintiff's data by a municipal employee.

In the present case, the plaintiff is seeking monetary compensation from the Greek State for moral damages in the amount of €20,000, with interest from the date of filing of the lawsuit until payment.»

The first lawsuit against the Greek government was filed by a Dutch resident for the leak of her email from the Ministry of the Interior.

The plaintiff, represented by our firm, had submitted her details for registration on the electoral roll in order to exercise...

— Sotiropoulos (@Sotiropoulos) March 17, 2024

SYRIZA: Instead of resigning, Ms. Kerameos is holding party celebrations abroad.

«The unprecedented revelations regarding the leak of personal data of expatriate voters from the Ministry of the Interior to the New Democracy party apparatus would have led to the immediate dismissal of the minister responsible in any civilized European country and to an immediate investigation of the scandal by the judiciary.  Unfortunately, the Mitsotakis government is once again demonstrating its understanding of the rule of law and the fundamental principle of the separation of powers,» the SYRIZA-PS Press Office emphasises in a statement.

«Instead of apologizing to the Greek people and resigning from her position as Minister of the Interior, Ms. Kerameos, in a move that is a monument to political audacity, is making ”informative” visits to the US and Canada to speak to the same audience whose personal data was exploited by the Mitsotakis government for vote-winning purposes.

Is it really reasonable for the government to expect voters to trust the postal voting process when, just three months before the European elections, voters» personal data is being handled illegally?" asks SYRIZA-PS.

«Ms. Kerameos and the other New Democracy officials, instead of essentially staging party events at our consular offices abroad, should immediately apologize to the Greek people for the illegal leak of personal data from the Ministry of the Interior and present – if they can – a roadmap for ensuring the confidentiality of voter data. SYRIZA-PS insists firmly on the need for a holistic investigation of the leak scandal by the judiciary. The actions of New Democracy not only exploit the love of Greek expatriates for their homeland, but also significantly undermine the very quality of our democracy,» concludes the press office statement.