The report about a high-ranking STASY employee who was monitoring, without authorization, metro facilities, platforms and depots, having access to cameras and video footage, is causing a sensation.
According to the newspaper Ethnos, the employee who holds a high-ranking position in the Network and Facilities Security Department had access to all the video footage from cameras located in the metro facilities. It is noted that only two security supervisors have authorization for the video footage of STASY and the employee in question did not have any such right.
The employee may not have had the necessary authorization, but it seems that he had also brought the relevant equipment to his office, in order to monitor all movements on the metro network without being disturbed.
The surveillance network he had set up was exposed after employees complained about blackmail, threats, and even the demotion of employees from their positions. The complaints led to the formation of a three-member committee to examine the incident, which ended up issuing a finding for all those involved.
Sources who spoke to “Ethnos tis Kyriakis” report that from the investigation of the case by the committee, it appears that the employee had already requested, since last February, the transfer of the recorder of lines 2 and 3 from the office that was installed in the Sepolia depot, to his own office, in the company’s administration building in the center. He was also requesting the transfer of the recorder of line 1 to his office. This specific request was even signed by his then boss, who has now left the company and is seconded to a political office. According to the same information, the employee now had the ability from his office not only to monitor in real time the image from the cameras on the network of the three lines, but also to record and store video from the image of these cameras.
Further investigation showed that immediately after the two recorders were transferred to his office, the employee also requested the replacement of the recorder computers with new ones, which had in the meantime been purchased together with a monitor. Ultimately, as it turned out, the computers, for the purchase of which the employee in question had proposed to proceed with a direct assignment from a specific company and even with an urgent procedure, which ultimately did not happen, were unsuitable. This is because they did not meet the requirements for the installation and operation of the camera surveillance and video retrieval applications, which demonstrates that the necessary cooperation with the IT services had not even been preceded.
The complaints and the conclusion
"Since the summer, we have received complaints from employees that this person was monitoring everything, having even illegally the recording device into his office and was sending reports to the company's management, resulting in employees being "dismissed" for the slightest thing. We have had complaints about threats and intimidation of employees," points out Spyros Revythis, president of the Metro Operations Association (SELMA).
According to other company sources, this "monitoring" resulted in employees who had previously held other positions being demoted to ordinary employees, simply because they reacted to this practice and had informed that they knew what was happening and that everything was being recorded.
The matter was brought to the company's Board of Directors by Mr. Revythis, and a three-member committee was established to investigate it. The committee's findings, which record all correspondence and any other document related to the case, assign responsibilities and reach two main conclusions, according to which:
a) The high-ranking employee of the Network and Facilities Security Department did not have any authority, nor authorization to monitor the areas of lines 1, 2 and 3 of the STASY (metro) network through cameras, and much less to record, store and retrieve video from the closed-circuit television system and make it available to third parties. Moreover, in communication with his hierarchy, he states that the authorization to retrieve stored video footage from the video surveillance system is held by only two security supervisors.
b) The hierarchy of the specific employee leaves the company exposed as it demonstrates tolerance or indifference for his actions both for the transfer of the video surveillance equipment to his office and the acquisition of the access codes, following his verbal request to his subordinate authorized to possess them, as well as for the procurement of new equipment, which was ultimately deemed unsuitable for use.
The committee also made findings regarding the company's operation. Specifically, it refers to "a lack of procedures to harmonize with the existing legislation that leave the company exposed to the Personal Data Protection Authority in the event of an audit and/or complaints", while also referring to the procurement of unsuitable equipment without any documentation, sometimes carried out "despite the company's highly bureaucratic procurement system".
Furthermore, it is noted that it is considered necessary for the company to take special precautions in the event of recording, storing and using video material by anyone who had access to the relevant system, other than those authorized, after its transfer and installation in the "official's" office and until its dismantling.
Following the presentation of the findings at the company's Board of Directors meeting a few days ago, the employee in question was asked to submit a written apology, as required by the regulations, while within the coming days it is expected to be heard by the company's Disciplinary Board. According to information, the written apology contains an admission of the case by the employee, who claims that everything happened in the absence of the others.
Source: www.lifo.gr
