The switch from an analogue to a digital state is an opportunity for social development provided that everyone is aware of the risks involved. For this to be the case, there needs to be education, reason, and laws to protect those using modern technology. At the very least, they should be informed of what data the administration has about them and how the administration uses it. This is what participants debated in the discussion, “Does the state know everything about us? The secret services, surveillance and... the Minister of Health. Are we protected and by what?”, which took place in the “Rzeczpospolita” Lounge during the 32nd Economic Forum in Karpacz.
Data protection
– “We leave many traces of ourselves in the digital world, and this is both public and personal. We are not always aware of this”, said Dr. hab. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, economist, Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics. She believes that the information the state can gather in this way should create good public policies based on facts and data. However, they should be adequately protected. As an example of such practice, she cited the system for monitoring the economic history of graduates, which is useful both for young people to reflect on their career choices and for universities and the state in creating education and labour market policies.
– “The system combines data from two registers and applies to the entire graduate population. We check how much such a person earns, how long they have been looking for a job, what type of contract they have. But the data is anonymised, so analysts who look at it do not know exactly what person it is. They have information that the person has graduated in a particular field of study, information about gender, and what year that person was born”, the economist said.
At the same time, she acknowledged that it is abusive to reach out and make public the data of a specific person, as has happened recently. – “This undermines trust in the state, administration, and officials. As a former public servant with a pro-state conduct, I think this should never have happened, and the consequences of this are far greater than just disclosing information in this way”, said Dr. hab. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak.
– “When using digital solutions, implementing them, applying artificial intelligence, or new technologies, we must remember that they are meant to serve humanity for its benefit and not to be used against it, which unfortunately happens. The state must only create laws that limit informational autonomy, i.e., invade this privacy of ours, only to the extent that is necessary in a democratic state under the rule of law. It is the role of parliament to create rules to meet this condition of necessity. Such legal norms will be a guarantee for the protection of our rights”, recalled Dr. Edyta Bielak-Jomaa, former President of the Personal Data Protection Office, Assistant Professor at the Labour Law Department of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Łódź, University of Łódź.
