Dozens of expats and diaspora Greeks have filed lawsuits against the Greek interior ministry, seeking compensation after the data protection scandal where a MEP used e-mail lists without authorization after she illegally obtained them.
Each one of the 30 in total – and so far – plaintiffs seek a compensation of 20,000 euros.
The expats say the ministry failed to safeguard their email addresses and the issue has shaken PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis administration, politico.eu reported on Wednesday.
The scandal broke out on March 1, when diaspora Greeks complained on social media that they have received e-mails by New Democracy MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou although they had never given their accounts to the MEP or had any other contacts with her.
However, they have registered at the postal vote platform of the interior ministry.
E-mail recipients said they had never had any prior communication with Asimakopoulou and didn’t consent to receiving her emails. They alleged the leak of their personal data had occurred through the interior ministry after they registered on the electoral rolls abroad.
Asimakopoulou has reportedly emailed hundreds of Greeks living abroad, very soon after a separate message from the interior ministry informed the expats that postal voting would apply in the next election.
The MEP initially denied any wrongdoing but in the end she had to withdraw from the ND candidates list for the upcoming European elections.
Last week, Greek Interior Ministry Secretary-General Michalis Stavrianoudakis resigned on Friday, while the party’s secretary responsible for Diaspora Greeks Nikos Theodoropoulos, was sacked.
According to media reports, a coworker of Stavrianopoulos had handed out the list with the registered voters’ data to Theodoropoulos.
Initial reports claimed that the list changed hands in May 2023, between the two rounds of parliamentary elections. According to reports two days ago, though, the list was given to MEP Asimakopoulou in January 2024.
What is striking is that when the first complains appeared on social media, the MEP spoke of “mud against her.” A claim that was fuklly supported by Theodoropoulos, the man who had given her the list.
PS We are governed by the clowns we vote for…
