Challenges of the future of personal data protection - Personal Data Protection Office’s conference

During the conference “Personal data protection in the EU. Where are we heading on the eve of the elections?" organised by the Personal Data Protection Office on 4 June 2024,  experts form the Personal Data Protection Office and invited guests will talk about the experiences of Polish and European personal data protection law. 

The event is organised on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Poland's membership in the European Union, the 35th anniversary of free elections in Poland, the 6th anniversary of the application of the GDPR and in the context of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.

Mirosław Wróblewski, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, began the conference by emphasising its special anniversary character. It was an excellent opportunity to hand over the appointments to the members of the Social Team of Experts of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office. The newly established Team is an initiative which creates a space for sharing thoughts, providing advice, giving opinions on draft legislation, recommending the initiation of actions or proposing amendments to the law in the area of personal data protection to the President of the Personal Data Protection Office.

‘The concept of the Social Team of Experts is an expression of my approach and programme - which is, the Personal Data Protection Office's openness to expert communities’, said Mirosław Wróblewski, adding that the Team was also created out of the need to face the challenges of personal data processing in the context of the dynamic development of new technologies.

During the conference, Magdalena Pietrzak, Head of the National Electoral Office, emphasised how important it is for every citizen to take part in elections, so that we can enjoy freedom, democracy and also Poland's presence in the European Union.

Urszula Góral, Data Protection Officer at the Chancellery of the Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish Parliament), read out a letter from Szymon Holownia, Marshal of the Sejm, who took the event under his honorary patronage. The Marshal emphasised the value of today's conference in building a platform to exchange knowledge and experience and to set new directions and formulating conclusions for the future in the area of personal data and privacy.

Introductory lecture by the EDPS

Wojciech Wiewiórowski PhD., European Data Protection Supervisor and former Inspector General for Personal Data Protection also spoke during the meeting. He gave a lecture on ”Data protection 20 years ago, data protection 20 years from now - challenges of the past and the future’. This was an important point on the agenda. Later, the panelists repeatedly referred to the theses presented by the EDPS in their presentations.

Professor Wiewiórowski thanked for the activities of the Personal Data Protection Office in recent months, this is extremely important when Poland is again becoming a very active participant in the work at the European level in the context of personal data protection. At the same time, he warned, among others, of the dangers that come from the primacy of the discussion on artificial intelligence over data protection, highlighting against this background the relationship between ethics and strong criminal law.

Impact of European Union law on the Polish legal system in the area of personal data protection

The remainder of the conference consisted of two thematic panels: The impact of European Union law on the Polish legal system in the field of personal data protection’ and ‘Personal data protection in the electoral process’. 

During the first panel, lecturers spoke about various aspects concerning the title issue. There were reflections by the speakers of a systemic nature, a lecture on the impact of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on data protection law.

Selected EU legal acts, such as the Digital Markets Act or the Artificial Intelligence Act, which although are not directly related to the protection of personal data, are closely linked to it, were cited; their relation to the GDPR and the interactions they enter into with the Regulation were discussed. The impact of data protection on other areas such as competition protection or ethics was highlighted. A large part of the discussion was devoted to the topic of risk assessment.

Personal data protection in the electoral process

During the second panel, we learned about the experience of personal data protection from different points of view: election procedures; breaches or complaints that are received by the Personal Data Protection Office regarding the electoral process. The issue of major changes in Polish law that occurred in connection with the announcement of the epidemic state in 2020 was raised, when personal freedoms were limited and personal data protection issues were regulated by these regulations. The powers of the statesman proved to be an engaging topic, including recording the activities of electoral commissions during elections. 

The conference was well attended. More than 400 people attended the live and online event.