Greece adopts drones for lockdown enforcement

The October 2019 Presidential Decree 98/2019 granted the Hellenic Police the option of using drones in policing and border management for broad purposes; previously they were limited to using them for purposes such as preventing forest fires or helping rescue people after a natural disaster or an accident. By spring 2020, the Hellenic Police had begun using their new powers in cities such as Athens and Thessaloniki to enforce compliance with lockdown measures instituted to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Decree provides no detail regarding what data processing the use of drones might require and no controls on abuse, and fails to follow other laws and require a data protection impact assessment before use. In April 2020 Homo Digitalis filed an official query with the Ministry of Citizen Protection asking for more information about the use of drones and notified the Hellenic DPA; no reply had been received as of July.

Publication: EDRi

Writer: Homo Digitalis