The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) dismissed claims by the hospital’s administration that the cameras were installed to allow nursing staff to monitor whether the women in the delivery rooms were going into labor.

Moreover, the administration also claimed that the system is out-of-order and disused, citing a lower rate of childbirths and the fact that “most women prefer caesarean sections instead of natural child births”.

Exact statistics on the actual number of c-sections in the country (as well as abortions) have never materialized, only estimates.

The authority’s ruling stated that the video surveillance had not ceased; that women in the birthing process were not informed they were being monitored and that no signs were posted warning of the CCTV system.

The maternity ward was ordered to dismantle the system and to destroy all of the video data.