November 20, 2007

Head of Greece's Privacy Agency Resigns Over Camera Surveillance of Protests

The head of Greece's privacy watchdog resigned Monday over the government's use of traffic cameras to monitor demonstrations, raising the stakes in a heated dispute over civil liberties. Dimitris Gourgourakis said police "directly breached" his powerful Data Protection Authority's regulations by using closed-circuit cameras for surveillance at a central Athens protest Saturday, despite a ban. "I believe this constitutes a blow to the authority's independence," said Gourgourakis, a former senior judge. The authority's deputy head and another two members also stepped down in protest.

Head of Greek privacy watchdog resigns over police use of cameras to monitor protests, International Herald Tribune, November 19, 2007.