In anticipation of the first united, worldwide action against mass spying, we asked Katarzyna Szymielewicz, co-founder and President of the digital rights organization, Panoptykon Foundation, a signatory to the 13 Principles against mass surveillance, to let the world know how her team is fighting back.

When it comes to surveillance, what’s the biggest problem in Poland right now?

Katarzyna Szymielewicz: The Polish mandatory data retention law. When implementing the European law on data retention, which compels telecom service to retain metadata for certain period of time, Poland not only opted for the most privacy-intrusive solutions but in some respects went further than what is permitted by the European directive.