"No to electronic slavery" and "democracy has referendums, fascism decrees," were two common slogans at a rally which police put at 2,500 strong.

"We don´t want our personal data to be used,", said one marcher, Dionysis Alexopoulos. "Perhaps with this new card they´ll be able to control our access to hospitals or other public places if for example we aren´t vaccinated," he mused.

"This serious subject should be put to a referendum and not decided anti-democratically by the government," said another marcher, Sofia Kanelopoulou.

The Greek government announced last week that the procedure for obtaining new identity cards would begin on September 25, noting Greece´s obligation to comply with European regulations on "strengthening the security" of ID documents.