Greek police data leak reveals details about members of an elite crime-fighting unit

ATHENS, Greece – A Greek police officers’ association says it is planning legal action after the names and details of hundreds of officers in a new elite crime-fighting agency were published online.

The Directorate to Combat Organized Crime (DAOE) was launched on Thursday to combat organized crime activities such as contract killings, fuel smuggling and money laundering.

Police officials confirmed they were investigating leaked details of more than 500 members of the new agency from an internally circulated document on staff transfers and the reorganization of subordinate departments.

The leak was published earlier this week on a news website focused on police and public safety and was subsequently reposted in private chat groups.

On Friday, a complaint from the Association of Police Officers in Athens was forwarded to parliament, saying it was “deeply disturbed” by the incident and the police leadership’s response.

“We do not care whether this was a mistake or whether some people viewed the publication as ‘exclusive information,'” the association said. “Our only concern is the result: detailed personal information of officers of a newly established service has become available to everyone.”

The complaint was forwarded to lawmakers by Greece’s main opposition party, which accused the conservative government of displaying an attitude of “total indifference and incompetence when it comes to data protection.”

The new national agency is the flagship department for a major police restructuring and will focus on tackling serious and organized crime, including crimes against life and property, human trafficking and financial crimes. The DAOE will work with other domestic law enforcement agencies as well as international organizations such as Europol and Interpol, the European and global crime fighting authorities.