Source link : https://love-europe.com/2024/10/23/greece/greek-ruling-party-fined-over-data-breach/
Greece’s data watchdog on Tuesday said it had fined the country’s ruling New Democracy party 40,000 euros after thousands of people were sent unsolicited voter emails before European parliament elections this year.
The Hellenic data protection authority said the incident had affected more than 25,000 diaspora Greeks. Two party supervisors of the conservative New Democracy party were also each fined 10,000 euros.
The authority said the private email addresses of diaspora voters, who had registered with the interior ministry for last year’s national elections, had been “illegally” used for “political communication”.
It could not be determined who “circulated” the data from the interior ministry to New Democracy, the authority said.
The incident caused a political outcry and prompted an EU parliament candidate in whose name the emails were sent, Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, to drop out of the race.
Asimakopoulou denied any wrongdoing.
The shadow minister for diaspora Greeks for the main opposition Syriza party, Othon Iliopoulos, on Monday said he had received emails from the interior ministry and Asimakopoulou “30 seconds apart.”
There was a “leak from the ministry to specific party (candidates),” Iliopoulos had said in a radio interview.
A New Democracy source on Tuesday said the party would appeal the fine at the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court.
“New Democracy disagrees with the conclusions of the authority,” the source said, adding that some of the recommendations made, including checking the private phones of staff, were “unenforceable and even illegal.”
Greece’s conservative government in January passed a reform to enable diaspora Greeks to vote electronically in European parliament elections.
Source: AFP
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Publish date : 2024-10-22 17:16:00
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The post Greek ruling party fined over data breach first appeared on Love Europe.
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Publish date : 2024-10-23 00:28:24
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