Data protection safeguards are important for the safe implementation of the AI Act

Mirosław Wróblewski, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, during a meeting of the Standing Subcommittee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland on Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm Transparency, pointed out that a large part of the solutions provided by the EU Artificial Intelligence Act relate to the processing of personal data. This is due to, among other things, the need to train artificial intelligence algorithms on data.

The meeting of the Standing Subcommittee was devoted to a presentation by the Minister of Digital Affairs on the regulations contained in the AI Act. The President of the Personal Data Protection Office also shared his insights on the Act with MPs and meeting participants.

“The issue of personal data protection is part of the fundamental rights that are enshrined in the Artificial Intelligence Act” – emphasised the President of the Personal Data Protection Office and, at the same time, noted that a large part of the solutions envisaged by this act relate to the processing of personal data. “This is due to the nature of the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms, which, among other things, must be trained on data. The Artificial Intelligence Act ensures that the right of personal data protection is respected, but actually guaranteeing it will be a major challenge for data protection authorities, including the Personal Data Protection Office” – said Mirosław Wróblewski.

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office signalled the most important threats to fundamental rights arising from the development of artificial intelligence and emphasised, in this context, the need to ensure in practice the principles of personal data protection guaranteed by the GDPR. In his view, this requires, in particular, the preparation of Data Protection Officers for the challenges posed by technological developments.

“The issue of personal data protection will be a priority for us and we need to be ready for artificial intelligence now.” – emphasised Mirosław Wróblewski.

The Personal Data Protection Office is dealing with artificial intelligence issues in its practice, but is also taking steps to prepare the office for future challenges related to the artificial intelligence applications. Therefore, the supervisory authority, as announced by the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, intends to share its experience, knowledge and expert support in future legislative activities in this area.

During the meeting, Grzegorz Napieralski, Chairman of the Subcommittee, announced the organisation of a separate meeting devoted to the issue of personal data protection with the participation of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office in the context of the use of artificial intelligence algorithms.

The transcript (in Polish) of the meeting is available under this link.