GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Natasha Mezini, Lambros Katsiamagkos and Jenny Georgountzou, Psarras, Georgountzou - GKP Law Firm
Psarras, Georgountzou - GKP Law Firm 8, Karneadou Street
Athens 106 75 Greece
Tel: +30 2107 2172 32 Fax: +30 2130 9939 65 Email: georgountzou@gkplaw.gr Web: www.gkplaw.gr
1. Legal and Regulatory Framework 1.1 Overview of Data and Privacy-Related Laws The fundamental provisions for privacy and data pro - tection in Greece are as follows, in order of priority. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data (GDPR) is the main legislation for the protection of personal data. The GDPR is directly applicable in Greece and supersedes any provision of national law, including the Constitution. The GDPR provides for the imposition of penalties (Article 83) and the obligation to compensate for damages incurred (Article 82) in case of violation of its provisions. Constitution The Greek Constitution sets out the basic principles for the privacy of communications and the protection of personal data. • Article 9A of the Constitution establishes protection from the processing, collection and use of personal data, and provides for establishing an independ - ent authority to safeguard such rights. In 1997, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) was established according to Law 2472/1997.
• Article 19 of the Constitution establishes the pri - vacy of correspondence (namely post/mail, which is the oldest form) and the freedom of communica - tions in general, and provides for establishing an independent authority to safeguard such rights. In 2003, the Hellenic Authority for Communications Security and Privacy was established according to Law 3115/2003. Civil Code Articles 57–59 of the Greek Civil Code include funda - mental provisions for protecting the individual’s per - sonality. An offence to the individual’s personality may substantiate civil claims for injunction, compensation and moral damages. Laws • Law 4624/2019 provides the necessary measures for the implementation of the GDPR and trans - poses the provisions of Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data. Moreover, Law 4624/2019 includes provisions for the operation of the HDPA. • Law 2472/1997 transposes Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the pro -
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