ATHENS –  With the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA, which promised transparency, wanting to make political donations anonymous, the country’s Data Protection Authority said contributions under 5,000 euros ($6191) shouldn’t have their names revealed.

The decision concerned a request made to the Communist Party by the Parliament’s Committee on the Audit of Asset Statements to reveal information on private citizens who had made donations to the party in 2015, Kathimerini reported.

The Communist Party had argued that handing over this information would violate people’s freedom to participate or support political parties which is “associated with the secrecy of voting.”
According to a 2002 law, information on party donors are published on the committee’s website.

The authority argued that revealing private information for such small amounts violates people’s privacy as it can reveal their political views even though large numbers of contributions under the limit could add up to huge secret donations without knowing the source giving money to politicians and their parties.