The Panoptykon Foundation recognizes the many ways in which new technologies have positively transformed our lives, shaping how we learn, work, shop, and rest, among other aspects. However, it highlights the risks that arise when technological developments go unchecked. To protect the freedom and privacy of citizens in Poland, Panoptykon believes more must be done. Particularly, their work focuses on three critical problem areas: 

1. Unscrutinized Security Services: In Poland, secret services currently have unrestricted access to personal data, with little transparency or oversight. Panoptykon is pushing for greater accountability by demanding scrutiny over access to collected data, the tools used, and the scope of surveillance. Panoptykon advocates for legal changes that ensure stricter standards and controls. 
2. The Overbearing Power of Big Tech: Internet giants like Google and Meta have a monopoly over the digital space. They track users' every move and exploit personal data to manipulate their choices. Thus, they inflict damage on democracy and have a negative impact on society. Through advocacy and public pressure, they campaign for greater respect for people’s choices.
3. Biased AI: Artificial Intelligence is present in every aspect of life, including medicine, public administration and law enforcement. More and more often it is used as a smoke screen for unpopular business and political decisions. Panoptykon draws attention to the limitations of this technology, warning that AI is not infallible. The organization calls for robust AI legislation and safeguards to protect people from its risks and negative impacts.  

Since 2009, Katarzyna and Panoptykon have played leading role in identifying tech-imposed risks and shaping public debate on national and European levels. The organization has stopped innumerous dangerous legislative initiatives (e.g. universal wealth audits for individuals) and helped make obsolete others that were already in effect (e.g. unfair system of profiling unemployed persons). Among its major wins are: bringing more scrutiny to secret services (obligatory annual public reports on phone bill monitoring statistics), winning a censorship case against Meta in a first-instance court, winning a surveillance case before European Court of Human Rights, and successfully challenging behavioral advertising ecosystem before Belgian courts and regulators.

Across Poland, Katarzyna has collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders, including governmental bodies, to advocate for the protection of citizens’ freedom and privacy. Notably, she has served as a consultant for the Polish Ministry of Digitalization (2024-2025) and Polish Ministry of Administration and Digitalization (2011-2016), where she was involved in designing recommendations at the national level. She also coordinated the introduction of a law within Poland to enable transparency throughout the loan application process – creating the opportunity for applicants to understand how they could have been potentially profiled.

Today, Panoptykon’s influence transcends Poland’s borders. Katarzyna is well known for her ability to form international coalitions that successfully identify core problems and introduce disruptive new ideas (e.g. ban on online advertising based on behavioral surplus, interoperability or curated vs algorithmic feeds on social media platforms) to corridors of European Parliament and European Commission. Their ongoing efforts continue to inspire EU-level solutions protecting European citizens from Big Tech. Ultimately, Katarzyna envisions transforming the current, fragmented data ecosystem into one that empowers individuals and restores control to users. Her work remains highly relevant and continues to expand across Europe, aiming to unite sectors and organizations in reaching new audiences. At present, she sees the most pressing priorities as neutralizing manipulative recommender systems and strengthening technological sovereignty of Europe and her own country. 

To discover more about her work, visit Panoptykon Foundation