Reactions have been caused by the alleged leak of personal data of expatriate Greeks with the recipient of the ND MEP, Anna Michele Asimakopoulou, in violation of the Community legislation on the protection of personal data (GDPR).
The issue became known through social media with Greeks abroad saying that they were included in Ms. Asimakopoulou’s email list without having given their details.
Speaking to “MEGA Weekend”, Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou emphasized that the details of the recipients of the newsletter had reached her office in a legal way.
“I have been a member of the European Parliament since 2012, first a member of parliament for Ioannina, Athens and now a member of the European Parliament. As you know, we parliamentarians want to inform candidates or potential candidates about our actions. I have been sending newsletters to various recipients for years,” he said.
“Since 2018, a community regulation, the personal data protection regulation, has been in force. When this regulation was implemented in Greece I brought people to my office and they complied. They made me a manual and I have a lawyer responsible for compliance. They bring us lists and we communicate regularly with people. We have sent to recipient lists that have come to our office legitimatelyhe said.
She explained how she got her hands on this information: “I travel all over Europe, they send me their cards, they send me lists because I visited their club and they said they would like me to contact their members. From the regulation you have the obligation when the list comes into your hands legally to send a first email that says if they want me to contact them press a big button that says “Register”. All those who received the mails have the option to register, if they do not register I will never bother them again.”
“I operate my office and the data in my office in full compliance with the operating regulation. I do not claim infallibility. If someone tells me in an audit that I should do something differently, I will of course do it. These days I am subjected to incredible bullying”, concluded the MEP.
The reactions
The reactions from the official opposition parties were fierce. Stefanos Kasselakis said that he will bring the matter to the Parliament. “As SYRIZA-PS we will immediately bring the issue to the Parliament with a timely question and we will submit to the Personal Data Protection Authority all the complaints of emigrants that reached our offices” he said.
Twenty-four of its deputies PaSoK they filed a question to the Minister of the Interior Nikis Kerameoswith the first signatory being the Member of Parliament, Panagiotis Doudonis.
In their question, the MPs – which they communicated to the Personal Data Protection Authority, mentioned among other things that “on Friday 1/3/2024 and since then, many complaints from Greeks abroad who were registered in the special electoral lists abroad, that they received an advertising email from the current MEP and ND re-candidate, Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, without ever giving her their contact details or consenting to their processing”.
“The responsibilities of the ND government are enormous, which – apparently – through state mechanisms, leaked the personal data of the emigrants who received the specific email. The responsibilities of the rest of the bourgeois parties that initially cooperated with the ND for the establishment of the postal vote, despite the warnings of the KKE and the rich relevant international experience, are enormous”, notes, among other things, the KKE.
The independent MEP Stelios Kouloglou submitted an urgent question to the Commission regarding the complaints of emigrants.
“Given this, the Commission must clarify how it intends to investigate the extensive leakage of personal data and violation of the General Regulation for the Protection of Personal Data (GDPR) to citizens located throughout the territory of the EU, in what way will deal with the possible violation of the Regulation on Transparency and Targeting in Political Advertising, adopted this week by the European Parliament, and finally, how will it ensure the integrity of the electoral process of the upcoming European elections, especially in Greece”, he says in his question.
I filed an urgent question today at @EU_Commission regarding expatriates’ complaints that ND MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou sent promotional material to their emails without their consent.
Specifically, on the morning of 03/01/2024, the Greek voters who…
— Stelios Kouloglou (@SteliosKoul) March 2, 2024
#Asimakopoulou #Leaks #evidence #emigrants #campaign
