Article Poland adopted a controversial anti-terrorism law On 22 June, Polish president signed a new anti-terrorism law. The law contains measures that are inconsistent with the Polish Constitution and with the European Convention on Human Rights. The list of controversies is long: foreigners’ phone calls might be wire-tapped without a court order, and police might collect their fingerprints, biometric photos and DNA if their identity is “doubtful”. Online content might be blocked, citizens' freedom of assembly limited, and secret services are given free access to all public databases. 22.06.2016 Text
Article Who is more real: me or my digital profile?, re:publica 2015 [VIDEO] Sharing information is less and less our free choice. The society requires high visibility: those, who don't expose themselves become suspicious or excluded. But sharing is just the beginning. The real purpose behind it is profiling. Be that our insurance or health care scheme, unemployment benefit or school curriculum – more and more services depend not so much on who we are in reality, but on the quality of our digital profile. Who designs these algorithms? What business and political stakes are behind? Katarzyna Szymielewicz comments on contents of our digital profiles and its implications. 08.05.2015 Text
Article Successful advocacy: the government declares no further extension of data retention obligation Data retention obligation will not be further extended in Polish law on electronic communication. However, the current, unlawful scope of telecommunication data retention remains unchanged. Our advocacy effort proved successful. 23.02.2023 Text
Article European Court of Human Rights: secret surveillance in Poland violates citizens’ privacy rights According to the precedent judgment announced today by the European Court of Human Rights, the operational-control regime, the retention of communications data, and the secret-surveillance regime under the Anti-Terrorism Act in Poland violate the right to privacy. The activists from Poland’s Panoptykon Foundation and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and the human rights lawyer who filed the application, expect the government to change the respective legislation without further delay. 28.05.2024 Text
other Joint statement on the dangers of the EU’s proposed regulation for fighting child sexual abuse online 19.05.2022