PASOK calls for the immediate convening of the Institutions and Transparency Committee for the case of personal data leaking to ND MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou.

In their letter to the chairman of the committee, Athanasios Bura, the PASOK MPs, among other things, report that they made the specific request “in order to investigate in depth the issue of the leakage of personal data of foreign voters by officials of the Ministry of the Interior and ND officials.”

The letter of the PASOK MPs in detail:

From Friday 1/3/2024, many complaints by expatriate Greeks that they received mass emails have come to light by the ND MEP, Mrs. Anna-Michel Asimakopoulou, in the context of her pre-election campaign for the upcoming European Parliament elections, without, however, having ever given her their contact details or consented to their processing.

The leak of personal data of expatriate Greekswhich contravenes both the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (/2016/679/EU) and the national data protection legislation (law 4624/2019), caused the ex officio intervention of the First Instance Prosecutor’s Office, whose research is ongoing. At the same time, an investigation is underway by the Personal Data Protection Authority (PDPA), a branch of which was visited today by the Ministry of the Interior. Meanwhile, following an investigation that the New Democracy (ND) hastened to carry out internally, without making it clear what more it would offer in relation to the findings of the Prosecutor’s Office and of the APDPH who had already taken over the case and are expected soon, it was already announced that the leak of personal data of expatriate voters was done by the General Secretary of Expatriates of the ND, Mr. N. Theodoropoulos, who received the relevant information from an associate of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr. M. Stavrianoudakis. This admission of responsibility by the ND led to the dismissal of Mr. Stavrianoudakis and Theodoropoulouas well as in resignation of Mrs. Asimakopoulou from the ND ballot for the June 2024 European elections.

The illegal leakage of voters’ personal data from the Government to candidates of the ruling party for these to be used for vote-hunting purposes is further evidence of serious decline of the rule of law and the institutions in our country, for which the governing majority is solely responsible.

In view of the above and in order to fully investigate and clarify the specific incident, but and to entertain any doubts of voters regarding the protection and privacy of their personal data in the context of their registration in the special electoral lists of postal voters for the upcoming European elections, we request, in accordance with articles 43A and 146 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament:

1) The immediate convening of the Institutions and Transparency Committeeas the competent committee for issues related to the functioning of institutions and transparency based on article 43A of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, in order to investigate in depth the issue of the leakage of personal data of foreign voters by the decision-makers of the Ministry of the Interior and officials of the ND.
2) The summons before the Committee, of the Minister of the Interior, Mrs. N. Kerameoswhich leads the Ministry responsible for the leak of personal data, thus bearing the objective political responsibility, in order to inform the Commission of the findings of the investigation that led to the resignation of the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr. M. Stavrianoudakis, as well as for the measures taken by the Ministry, as the controller of said data in accordance with the current legislation, in order to ensure the protection and privacy of the personal data of voters who were registered and are registered in the special electoral lists abroad and in the special electoral lists of voters postal vote.
3) The summons before the Committee of the President of the APDPH, Mr. K. Menoudakosin order to inform the Commission about the course of the Authority’s investigation into the case of data leakage, as well as about the next steps of the process, and
4) The immediate submission by the Institutions and Transparency Committee of a request for the transmission of the findings of the investigation of the Ministry of the Interior and the ND which led to the resignation of the General Secretary of the Ministry and the General Secretary of the Party Expatriates, as well as any other relevant documents.

The Requesting Members of Parliament

Evangelia Liakoulis

Panagiotis Doudonis

Dimitrios Biagis