Other internet -crimes

The cases and what is the current legislation for each of them

Withdrawal of confidentiality in communications

Act. 3666/2008 includes the crime of child pornography among the charges that declassify communications as prescribed by Article 4 par. 1 sec. a of Act 2225/1994, which is in force as replaced by article 3 of Act. 4411/2016. Based on this regulation, the Cybercrime Unit of Hellenic Police is now able to take action, find evidence and conclusively arrest suspects for such crimes. This specific regulation is the starting point for the augmentation of child pornography circulation cases brought to justice.

Other cyber crimes

Apart from genital offences, SafeLine aims at dealing with types of crimes, most important of which is the circulation of violent and racist material, personal data and privacy violation, declassification of communications, financial fraud, revilement and defame, call for suicide etc. The collaboration with the Cybercrime Units of Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) and the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) plays a vital role.

Online Financial fraud

The development of technology and the globalization of internet are increasingly a breeding ground for new forms of crime. Realizing that growing crime in cyberspace requires interstate co-operation to tackle it has led to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The above Convention was signed by the Member States of the Council of Europe and by non-member states of the organization, while in our country it was ratified by Act. 4411/2016.

Online financial fraud takes place mainly in the form of online shopping. There is no law in our national legislation that standardizes crimes committed exclusively on Internet. However, the Greek penal code prescribes provisions for computer-generated crimes, such as crime of fraud through computer (386A Penal Code). So in cases where these crimes are committed online, these laws apply again. Act 4619/2019 complements the provision of Article 386A for computer fraud. The new provision provides for the following:

Article 386A Computer fraud

1. Whoever, in order to offer himself or another an unlawful material benefit damages the assets of another by influencing the result of a data processing operation:

  1. with incorrect configuration of a computer program,
  2. with the unauthorized interference with the operation of a program or computer system,
  3. with the use of incorrect or incomplete computer data, especially identification data,
  4. with the unauthorized entry, alteration, deletion or deletion of computer data, in particular identity identification data, or
  5. the unauthorized use of software intended for the movement of money, is sentenced to an imprisonment and a fine.

If the damage caused exceeds the total amount of 120,000 euros, imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine are imposed.

2. Whoever manufactures, possesses or has a program or computer system intended for the commission of the crime referred to paragraph 1 shall be punished by imprisonment of up to two years and a fine. Anyone who voluntarily destroys the above program or computer system before using it to commit the crime referred to paragraph 1 shall be released from any penalty.

3. If computer fraud is directed directly against the legal entity of the Greek state, legal entities under public law or local self-government organizations and the damage caused exceeds a total of 120,000 euros, imprisonment of at least ten years is imposed and a fine of up to one thousand day units. This act is barred after twenty years.

Violent and racist content

Racism and xenophobia are often encountered in the world of internet through the publication of opinions or data that seek to diminish or encourage discrimination or violence against individuals identified on the basis of certain characteristics, such as race, color and religion.

In Greece, the fight against racism and xenophobia through criminal law is pursued through the anti-racism law 4285/14. This law makes amendments to Act. 927/1979 and adapts to the Council of Europe’s Framework Decision 2008/913 / EEC to combat certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia through criminal law.

Act 4285/2014 introduces Article 81A in the Penal Code, which standardizes racist crime. With the new Act 4619/2019, the current provision of article 81A is transferred to article 82A, which now provides the following:

Article 82A Crime with racist characteristics

If a crime has been committed against a victim whose choice was made on the grounds of race, color, national or ethnic origin, genealogy, religion, disability, gender orientation, identity or gender characteristics, the sentence is as follows:

a) In the case of a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison, the minimum sentence is increased by six months. In other cases of misdemeanors, its minimum limit is increased by one year.
b) In the case of a felony, the minimum sentence is increased by two years.

Protection of Communication Confidentiality

The inviolability of the secrecy of communications is protected in Article 19 of the Constitution. However, our communication with Internet users is compromised when someone violates the passwords we have on social media or in our email.

Many laws concerning the secrecy of communications have been enacted in the Greek legal system, such as Act 3471/2006 on the protection of personal data and privacy in the field of electronic communications, Act 3431/2016 concerning, among others, Electronic Communications and Act 2225/1994 on the protection of freedom of response.

Article 370D standardizes the offense of violating the secrecy of communications through information systems, which, based on the amendments to the Law 4619/2019, provides the following:

Article 370D

  1. Whoever illegally copies or uses computer programs is punished with a fine or the provision of community service.
  2. Whoever illegally acquires access to all or part of the information system or to elements transmitted by telecommunication systems, violating prohibitions or security measures taken by its rightful owner, shall be punished by imprisonment.
  3. If the perpetrator is in the service of the legal holder of the information system or data, the act of the preceding paragraph shall be punished only if it is expressly prohibited by an internal regulation or by a written decision of the holder or a competent official.

The lifting of the secrecy of communications is only permitted for the detection of particularly serious crimes. These crimes are listed in Article 4 (1) of Act 2225/1994, as amended by Article 3 of Act 4411/2016.

Insult and defamation

Insult and defamation are standardized as criminal code offenses under Articles 361 and 363 respectively. These two provisions protect the legal good of the honor, while pursuant to Article 368 of the Penal Code, criminal prosecution for these crimes is exercised only upon the complaint of the victim.

Intellectual property infringement

By the term intellectual property we mean the right of the creator of an original intellectual work on this work, which enables him to allow or prohibit its use by third parties. However, this right may be infringed when a work is used without the permission of the beneficiary or in violation of the license granted by him.

The basic legislation for the protection of intellectual property and related rights is the Act 2121/1993, as well as the Act 4481/2017 which, among other things, adapts the national legislation to the Directive 2014/26 / EU, while at the same time adapts important amendments to the law 2121/1993.

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