All calls and e-mails may be subject to scrutiny

No phone call or e-mail can be considered secure in Poland, as under a new regulation which took effect at the end of February, TPSA, mobile networks, Internet and other telecom operators have to install applications that will allow them to spy on their clients' phone calls and e-mails. Under the regulation by the Ministry of Infrastructure, all the aforementioned service providers should act in the interests of national security and public order, that is install at their own expense equipment which allows the tapping of telephones and archiving them as well as looking into e-correspondence in real time. Moreover, they are obliged to connect their networks to the Internal Security Agency, Secret Service Agency, Border Guard, Military Police, police and tax office intelligence unit. However, any surveillance can only be conducted under the order of the prosecutor's office and the court. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1) J.K.