The penalty was imposed by the Authority for the Protection and Assurance of the Privacy of Communications (ADAE) as it had judged that it had not taken the necessary security measures (in the KAFAO) to avoid violations of the privacy of telephone communications and for failing to promptly inform the Authority about three eavesdropping incidents.
ADAE imposed a fine of 145,000 euros on OTE for violations of European and Greek legislation on the confidentiality of telephone interceptions , specifically for:
1) Insufficient security measures to avoid breaches of communications privacy and
2) Failure to inform ADAE, resulting in representatives of the Authority not being present at the time of seizure of the objects violating the confidentiality of communications (wires, etc.) found in all cases of telephone interception.
According to the decisions of the Council of State, "in cases of wiretapping findings, the telecommunications operator is obliged by law to immediately inform the Authority, so that an employee of the Authority can be present during the removal of the bugs and during the conduct of the investigations, whether these are carried out by the Police or the Prosecutor's Office.".
OTE, for its part, argued before the Council of State that it is not obliged to inform the Authority about the incidents of wiretapping, but even if it is still assumed that the law provides for the obligation for an ADAE representative to be present during the investigative acts, the one who must inform the Authority is the Police or the Prosecutor's Office and not OTE.
Source: left.gr
