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
Article The right to explanation of creditworthiness assessment – first such law in Europe Thanks to Panoptykon’s initiative bank customers in Poland will have the right to receive explanation of their creditworthiness. It’s the first right of this kind in Europe and a higher standard than the one envisioned in the GDPR. 12.06.2019 Text
Article Open letter to the European Commision Panoptykon Foundation co-signed the open letter to the European Commision, regarding the situation in Poland, in which we express our concern with the legislative changes in Poland, that began with undermining with the legitimacy of the Constitutional Tribunal, but went much further, affecting the full scope of fundamental rights of Polish citizens. Amnesty International, FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), Human Rights Watch, Open Society European Policy Institute, Reporters without Borders and other Polish and international NGOs were among the signees of the letters. 21.02.2017 Text
Article The Act on Constitutional Tribunal inconsistent with the Constitution. Citizens get mobilized Polish Constitutional Tribunal decided yesterday that the Act of 22 December 2015 amending the Constitutional Tribunal Act was enacted in breach of the Constitution. E.g. the Sejm violated the rule that bills are considered in the course of three readings. 10.03.2016 Text
Article Visit Civic Democracy Watch! Civic Democracy Watch, a joint initiative by a group of Polish NGOs dedicated to protecting human rights, the rule of law and transparency in Poland has been officially launched. 10.03.2016 Text
Article New project on public institutions’ surveillance practices Every year more and more public money is invested in surveillance technologies – everything from drones and video surveillance to data mining software for public administration. Recently, the Polish government announced a new programme of co-financing surveillance cameras in the schools. 05.11.2014 Text
Article Panoptykon called on MEPs to stop mass surveillance On 11 September 2014 digital right activists and advocates around the world commemorated the anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the WTC as the Freedom not Fear Day. 24.09.2014 Text
Article Wojciech Wiewiórowski will remain DPC for the second term The current Polish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) will remain on his post for another, second term after the Polish Parliament confirmed his nomination on 25 July 2014. The decision did not come as a surprise: Wojciech Wiewiórowski was the only candidate for the post and has an excellent background for the role. Just like during the previous nomination process four years ago, EDRi member Panoptykon monitored the process, to ensure its transparency to the public. 30.07.2014 Text