Vodafone may face charges over Greek phone-tapping
A Greek privacy watchdog today met to consider fining mobile-phone operator Vodafone over an illegal phone-tapping operation that targeted Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
The seven-member body will consider the extent of the operator’s responsibility in the operation, which also targeted senior military officers, human rights activists and journalists, from just before the August 2004 Olympic Games until March 2005.
Investigators have not discovered who was behind the phone taps, but Vodafone could be blamed for failing to protect its network.
The company said it would not comment on the committee meeting or other ongoing investigations until it has announced its conclusions.
Vodafone could face a fine of £114m (€169.9m), according to local media reports, if the body decides to impose separate penalties for the 106 people whose phones were illegally monitored.
The Hellenic Authority for the Information and Communication Security and Privacy was not expected to reach a decision before tomorrow.
Parliament and a senior prosecutor are holding separate inquiries into the phone-tapping scandal, including an investigation into who may have hacked into the Vodafone network.
