The Personal Data Protection Office at the Pol’and’Rock Festival

On the first weekend of August, the 30th Pol’and’Rock Festival took place at the Czaplinek-Broczyno Airfield. This year’s edition of the event saw participation from representatives of the Polish Personal Data Protection Office, led by the President of the Office, Mirosław Wróblewski.

Pol’and’Rock Festival is not only about concerts and fun but also a place for important meetings with extraordinary people. These meetings take place in a mature and friendly atmosphere, open to people of all ages. The schedule of meetings and workshops organised as part of the Academy of the Finest of Arts is as rich as the concert line-up. For its participants, the festival is increasingly an opportunity to gain knowledge and engage in important discussions. In line with this trend, the Personal Data Protection Office made its presence felt by participating in a workshop on artificial intelligence and by providing a consultation point on personal data. This year’s participation of the Personal Data Protection Office at the Pol’and’Rock Festival was made possible thanks to the courtesy of the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Poznań.

Workshops “Artificial Intelligence – Opportunity or Threat?”

Mirosław Wróblewski, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, and Tomasz Ochmiński, Deputy Director of the High Tech Department, along with Aleksandra Auleytner, a PhD legal advisor, conducted a workshop entitled “Artificial Intelligence – Opportunity or Threat?” in the Workshop Tent of the Academy of the Finest of Arts at the Pol’and’Rock Festival. During the meeting, representatives of the Office unveiled AI’s operations and its impact on today’s digital reality. They addressed the topic of "deepfakes" and the legal problems stemming from them; AI training models in the context of the right to privacy; disinformation; and language model hallucinations. They also discussed how a neural network “thinks” and the responsibility for damages caused by AI when it interferes with the privacy of unaware users.

The issues addressed by the panelists and attendees served as a basis for a subsequent discussion. This discussion focused on seeking answers to whether global legal regulations should be introduced to limit the development of AI and AI’s access to training data.

“The Personal Data Protection Office participation in the Pol’and’Rock Festival sparked significant interest among attendees. This shows that initiatives where representatives of the Office step outside its walls are important and necessary. As an institution open to the needs of the society, we take these observations to heart,” commented Mirosław Wróblewski, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office.

In-Person Consultation Point

As part of the Personal Data Protection Office participation in the Festival, a stationary consultation point on personal data protection was set up in the tent of the National Chamber of Legal Advisors. Izabela Maryańska, a representative of the Office’s Hotline, explained to festival guests how they can assert their rights in the event of a violation of personal data protection and privacy. The questions from those interested concerned, among other things, the personal data of foreigners in Poland and their rights, informed consent related to monitoring under the Labour Code, issues related to copyright, scientific research, and data protection, as well as future discussion panels. Questions also touched on the intersection of personal data protection laws and church law, for example, in cases of apostasy. Additionally, there were questions about the right to privacy and ways to protect oneself from cybercriminals.