The position of personal data protection supervisory authority  in Polish democratic system of government, according to the draft  Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the  protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data  and on the free movement of such data

On 25th January European Commission introduced draft Regulation Of The European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (general data protection regulation); as a result of EU data protection reform works. The Commission’s proposals, makes significant change in future position and role of Member States’ supervisory authorities. It will be a result of several precise duties imposed on those bodies, which regard execution of mutual cooperation principle as well as joint operations. Important meaning will also have relation between states supervisory bodies and the Commission,by virtue of consistency mechanism and legislator powers given to the Commission. Above mentioned proposals on legal solutions, lead to necessity to assess the principle of supervisory authorities’ independence (which is described in details and strengthened in the draft Regulation) in relation to European authorities. Although European legislator took care for several independency guarantees in organisational a financial manner, it is possible that in legal dimension the predicted purpose will not be achieved. Consistency mechanism proposed in draft Regulation is very wide in subjective scope and allows the Commission to control directly means taken by state supervisory bodies, by issuing implementing acts. As a consequence of such a mechanism, the independence ofthose bodies in relation to the Commission will be undoubtedly, significantly limited. It is disputable whether state supervisory authorities will be able to keep independence prescribed by article 47 p.1. of the draft Regulation, in its full scope. It must be emphasised that Regulation as directly applicable will become a part of domestic legal order in Poland. If it will come in to force in currently proposed wording, the polish supervisory authority – Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data, will be a part of European data protection system, and will be obliged to fulfil its duties in respect of European Union authorities (The European Commission and European Data Protection Board).

Position of data protection authority on the example of Poland

Independent data protection authorities are of critical importance to the effective protection of personal data. Even under the previous Directive EU Member States were obligated to provide a designated supervisory authority. The fundamental reform of EU data protection law and adoption of General Data Protection Regulation has introduced a number of changes in the data protection law area. It also affected the provisions on national data protection authorities. To adapt to the new regulatory regime Polish legislator has decided to establish a new supervisory authority. The President of Personal Data Protection Office has replaced the previous Inspector General for Personal Data Protection. However it needs to be noted that current provisions raised questions about the position of The President in the whole regulatory framework. Therefore the aim of this paper is to review current law and to define the legal position of Polish data protection authority.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the guarantees of independence of the national supervisory authority in the light of the provisions of Regulation 2016/679 and national constitutional and statutory provisions. Ensuring the independence of the supervisory authority is recognized as one of the basic European standards for the protection of personal data. Independence manifests itself in the impossibility of issuing guidelines as to the manner of operation, limiting or eliminating the possibility of interfering with pending proceedings, limiting the impact on staffing. It is the independence of the authority that is intended to ensure the effectiveness and credibility of the supervision of compliance with the provisions on the protection of personal data of individuals.

Google and the Right to be Forgotten on the Internet

Development of new technologies and the emergence of the internet have made it necessary to discuss how to protect personal data online. In the European Union system, the right to personal data protection is regulated both in primary and secondary legislation. In 2016, the data protection regulation (RODO), which came into force in 2018 and it has become part of the national legal order in all European Union countries. The purpose of adopting this document was to strengthen and harmonise the protection of fundamental freedoms and right of individuals. The subject of particular interest became the right to be forgotten. The article discusses under what conditions a citizen has the right to have the data subject’s personal data deleted from Google’s search engine.

This paper will examine the scope of application of electoral law instruments ensuring the protection of personal data. At the end, the author formulates postulates to amend the law with regard to the examined issues.

The Act on the State Commission for Investigation of Russian Influences vs. Personal Data Protection

The purpose of the article is to analyze the provisions of the Law on the State Commission for Investigating Russian Influences on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland for 2007–2022 and its impact on the application of the provisions shaping the system of personal data protection. The text points out the numerous shortcomings of the provisions of this law, its inconsistency with the provisions of the Constitution and its inconsistency with the provisions of RODO – the General Data Protection Regulation, the provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection and the Law on the Protection of Personal Data Processed in Connection with Preventing and Combating Crime. The analysis shows that the Commission’s action may significantly harm human freedoms and rights, including privacy and the right to the protection of personal data, and the manner of its action is contrary to the principles of a democratic state of law.

The question of adequacy of data protection model in the United States is one of the most important in transatlantic business and politic relations. The fact that European Commission’s decisions recognizing the adequacy have been annulled twice put relations between EU and US in very difficult phase. In this article I aim to analyse whether basis guarantees for privacy protection in the United States in the shape of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution are adequate in the meaning of data protection model in EU. By looking at the practice of interpreting of the Fourth Amendment and art. 8 of European Convention of Human Rights, in line with police directive and GDPR I try to answer the questions if the Fourth Amendment protection gives enough guarantees to ensure respect towards privacy and data protection rights of individuals.