The Personal Data Protection Authority gave the green light to the Hellenic Police’s placement of cameras on the streets to prevent and suppress criminal acts and manage traffic for the needs of the General Police Directorate of Attica.

There was a previous request from Hellenic Police that concerns a surveillance system consisting of fixed and rotating cameras that also receive sound for the purpose of preventing and suppressing crime and for managing traffic and the consequences of traffic accidents.

Specifically, with the 4/2024 opinion, the Authority considered that the relevant study forwarded by the Hellenic Police for the placement of cameras, adequately addresses the risks posed to the protected legal interests of data subjects and provides advice on specific issues.

The Authority recommends:  

• Enhancing transparency through the use of multi-level information provision and the use of modern visualisation technologies of the monitored areas and, at the same time, posting the full text of the decision to install the systems.
• Provision of sufficient resources to the Data Protection officer of the Hellenic Police.
• Definition of minimum specifications of video/audio capture devices.
• Clarification of the anonymisation process when using data for educational purposes.

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