Greece’s AI Smart Policing System Ruled Unlawful After €4 Million Public Spending\

Key Takeaways

• €4 million (≈ $4.3 M) AI policing contract signed in 2019
• Devices enable on‑site facial, fingerprint, and license‑plate scans
• HDPA ruled the system unlawful due to missing legal basis and DPIA
• 75 % of funding came from EU Internal Security Fund

Pulse Analysis

The Greek "Smart Policing" project illustrates how rapidly expanding AI surveillance can outpace regulatory safeguards. By equipping officers with handheld biometric scanners, the system promised faster identity verification, yet its design raised red flags about profiling vulnerable groups, especially migrants. EU data‑protection rules, particularly the GDPR, require a robust legal basis and a Data‑Protection Impact Assessment for high‑risk technologies—a step that was conspicuously absent in this case.

Civil‑society watchdogs Homo Digitalis and AlgorithmWatch were instrumental in surfacing the project's deficiencies, filing complaints that prompted the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) to investigate. The HDPA’s December 2025 decision declared the entire deployment unlawful, emphasizing that the lack of a DPIA and an appropriate legal framework violated fundamental privacy rights. This outcome not only halts a potentially invasive surveillance tool but also sets a precedent for scrutinising AI‑driven law‑enforcement contracts across the EU.

Beyond the immediate legal fallout, the case spotlights broader concerns about public‑spending oversight, especially when EU funds are involved. With three‑quarters of the €4 million budget sourced from the Internal Security Fund, the misuse of taxpayer money underscores the need for tighter pre‑procurement checks and transparent reporting. The episode serves as a cautionary tale for member states: without rigorous compliance checks, high‑risk AI projects risk both civil‑rights violations and costly financial waste, prompting EU institutions to reinforce safeguards for future digital security investments.