Recent audits by the Communications Privacy Authority (ADAE) have yielded new data in a popular case of wiretapping. On Thursday, after a surprise visit to the Cosmote premises, a team of inspectors from the Office discovered that the National Intelligence Service, with the consent of the competent prosecutor Vasiliki Vlachos, had begun declassifying the phones of journalist Tasos Telloglu and independent MEP Giorgos Kirtsos. With other inquiries pending before the Office from individuals who have asked to verify whether privacy has been removed from their phones, no one can rule out the possibility that another round of revelations will occur in the near future.

ADAE eventually began procedures to check ex officio whether any of the individuals mentioned in recent publications (Documento newspaper) were in fact the subject of EYP surveillance. Pressure in this direction was also exerted by the leader of the official opposition, Alexis Tsipras, who went to the office of the independent government on the morning of December 7. Although some information indicated that the verification of names that saw the light would begin before the new EYP law (adopted on December 9), this process is reportedly not yet completed.

Mr. Thassos Telloglu submitted two requests to ADAE to check his mobile phone. The first request was filed on November 29, in which the journalist asked the Office to check whether the privacy of his phone’s location and movement data had been lifted. That is, if EYP through his device could fix his exact location, as well as his movements. The request was preceded by incidents that worried the journalist, who has been investigating the issue of illegal surveillance since the beginning of the year.

The second request was filed on December 12 and was for the removal of privacy on his phone, in August 2021. This is the period when Mr. Telloglu, like other journalists, covered the topic of forest fires in the country.

Procedures were initiated to check ex officio whether any of the persons mentioned in the publications were indeed the object of declassification.

Responding to a reporter’s query, ADAE auditors went to Cosmote on Thursday and found that it had privacy stripping provisions in place on its mobile phone. The same thing happened in the case of an independent member of the European Parliament. Giorgos Kirtsos approached ADAE last Friday, Dec. 9, asking him to check if his phones were being tracked by EYP. The name of Kyrtsos was included in the lists of the newspaper “Documento”, and in early autumn he himself checked his device in the European Parliament for the possibility of infection with the Predator software, but with a negative result. The ADAE audit allegedly showed that EYP removed privacy not only from Mr. Kirtsos’ mobile phone, but also from his office and home landlines. Some information, in fact, says that the removal of secrecy was given only nine extensions, each of which has a duration of two months. Mr. Kirtsos himself explained his presence by the break that occurred in his relations with the government and Maximos Palace, and made it clear that he intends to take this issue to the European Court of Justice, the European Parliament and other bodies.

Thursday’s review sparked a legal confrontation between ADAE, Cosmote and Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiako. When the presence of the Authority’s auditors at the supplier’s facilities became known, OTE legal counsel Irini Nikolaidou reportedly asked Mr. Dogiakos for an opinion on the legality of the pre-audit procedure. ADAE leaders made it clear that no opinion was required for an audit by an independent body, and proceeded with the procedure. During the process, Ms. Nikolaidou reportedly mentioned in her dialogue with ADAE leaders her communication with Mr. Dogiakos, who told her that the process was illegal. Finally, the audit was completed with known findings.

After releasing what the audit revealed, Cosmote issued a statement explaining that “it is by no means true that the work of the Office has been hindered, nor that its competence has been questioned.” And Mr. Dogiakos, however, allegedly told the journalists of the Dokumento newspaper who contacted him that he had expressed his personal opinion to the legal adviser of the OTE while studying the provisions of the new law.

ADAE President Christos Rammos was forced to take a stand on the incident. He issued a written statement explaining that “The power to maintain the confidentiality of communications continues even after the publication of the latest law (5002/22), its auditing powers are imposed by the Constitution (Article 19 §2) and the executive law (3115/22). 03)”.