GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nikos Nikolinakos, Dina Kouvelou and Alexis Spyropoulos, Nikolinakos & Partners Law Firm
Trust service providers are liable for damage caused due to a failure to comply with their obligations. Where trust service providers duly inform their customers in advance of the limita - tions on the use of their services and where those limitations are recognisable to third parties, trust service providers shall not be liable for damages arising from the use of services exceeding the indicated limitations. A qualified trust service provider providing qualified trust services must maintain sufficient financial resources and/or obtain appropriate liability insurance. Personal data processing must be carried out in accordance with GDPR and Law 4624/2019. Where feasible, trust services provided and end user products used in the provision of those ser - vices must be made accessible for persons with disabilities. In case of violation of the relevant legislation, EETT may impose one or more of the follow - ing sanctions, depending on the gravity of the violation: • recommendation; • a fine of up to EUR100,000; and/or • the suspension or revocation of the rights deriving from the relevant EETT decisions for serious and repeated violations. Electronic Signatures An electronic signature is data in an electronic form that is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form, and that is used by the signatory to sign. The eIDAS Regu - lation provides for two particular types of elec - tronic signatures: • advanced electronic signatures; and
• qualified electronic signatures, which have a legal effect equivalent to that of a handwritten signature. The legal effect and admissibility of the simple electronic signature as evidence in legal pro - ceedings shall not be denied under the Regu - lation. However, a simple electronic signature cannot be considered equivalent to a handwrit - ten signature, and therefore it cannot be used as a substitute for the electronic signature in legal transactions where using the written form is mandatory. In this context, Law 4727/2020 states that an electronic document bearing a simple or advanced electronic signature or an advanced electronic seal of its issuer constitutes a mechanical representation within the meaning of Article 444 of the Greek Civil Procedure Code, and therefore shall have the force of a private document. However, in cases where the use of written form is required and therefore a private document must have the handwritten signature of its issuer in order to produce evidence, a qualified elec - tronic signature or electronic seal is required. Electronic documents with a simple or advanced electronic signature are freely evaluated as legal evidence, based on the applicable procedural provisions. Digital Identity In Greece, Gov.gr Wallet enables the creation, storage and control of citizens' digital docu - ments. Digital ID cards, digital driving licences, digital disability cards, digital employment agen - cy cards and digital ring cards are already sup - ported. Gov.gr digital documents are equivalent to the paper documents for any legal use within
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