Q&A :: Growing survellaince a threat?

On 22 June, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a new anti-terrorism law. Different NGOs have repeatedly argued that the legislation contains measures that are inconsistent with the Polish Constitution and with the European Convention on Human Rights. On Monday, the country’s Ombudsman Adam Bodnar referred the law to the Constitutional Tribunal. This week we speak to President of the Panoptykon foundation Katarzyna Szymielewicz, whom we ask about controversies surrounding the law, and the issue of a so-called surveillance society.

"Surveillance concerning a foreigner can be imposed withourt any court order," Szymielewicz said refferring to the bill.

Panoptykon has argued that as a result "the current standard of protection provided for foreigners that are subject to Polish jurisdiction will be drastically lowered".

"Living in a survaillance society is a process," she said, adding that "we usually do not experience it in our day-to-day life."

The Warsaw-based NGO was established to address the problem of growing surveillance in post-modern societies.