President of the Polish SA reminds to include data protection standards in the ECL

Digitization, Innovation and Modern Technologies Committee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland will address the draft Law on Electronic Communications on Thursday (04.07.2024). Ahead of tomorrow's committee meeting, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office recalls the necessary changes to the proposed regulations so that it not only complies with the GDPR, but also with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Mirosław Wróblewski, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, in response to an invitation to a meeting of the Digitization, Innovation and Modern Technologies Committee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, which will consider the reports of the Extraordinary Subcommittee on the draft law on the new Electronic Communications Law and the regulations implementing this law, draws attention to the need for proper regulation of this matter. At the same time, the President upholds his comments, which were presented during the works of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland on the draft of the new regulations. These comments are available in a communication on the website of the Personal Data Protection Office under the link: https://uodo.gov.pl/pl/138/3126.

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office places particular attention on the principles of retention of data about the users of publicly available telecommunication services and the regulations on making such data available to authorised entities. He points out that in shaping this matter, the Polish legislator should take into account both the principles stemming from the provisions of the GDPR, but also the constitutional principle limiting the acquisition, collection and disclosure of information on citizens by public authorities to data necessary in a democratic state under the rule of law. The legislator should also have regard to the current international standards adopted in case law in this area.

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office reminds that the proposed model of unconditional collection of data on all users of telecommunication services and making them available to authorised entities - being a continuation of the existing legal solutions - does not meet the requirements of the current case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Moreover, it is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.