BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Michał Serzycki was born on July 3^rd, 1971 in Warsaw. He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University as well as from a post- secondary teacher training college. He finished the courses qualifying the graduates for managerial positions in state administration (including the courses developing managerial capacities of civil servants), the courses for future members of supervisory boards and privatization proxies as well as the courses in the area of work organization. He is also a graduate of postgraduate studies in public administration management (a programme directed at the management) at Leon Koźmiński Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management.

Michał Serzycki started his professional career at the National Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Fund, where he held managerial positions. At the same time he was a member of supervisory bodies of different companies and commercial law partnerships. From December 2002 to the moment of the election for the position of the Inspector General for Data Protection he was a Deputy Mayor of the district Wola in Warsaw.

The protection of personal data – the main task of the Personal Data Protection Bodies (PDPB) – is directly related to the security of information revealed on social networking sites. Most clearly, there is an urgent need to protect children who often use such portals and are at the highest risk of loosing one of the most valuable things they have: their identity and personal data. The goal of the Personal Data Protection Bodies is to create a safe and friendly Internet environment for the youngest users. 

There is a vivid discussion between people who take advantage of the amazing communication opportunities offered by social networking sites and those who see them as a threat to users’ rights and privacy. Social networking sites offer their users a pleasant feeling of having their own space in the virtual world or being a member of a small community. However, this feeling is largely unfounded and may lead to revealing too much of the user’s private life and personal information, which may have some serious long-term consequences, because even though the term “social networking” suggests that revealing personal data is like sharing with friends, the information provided in the profile may actually be available to all users of the site, sometimes even millions of people. 

Therefore, the Personal Data Protection Bodies have been monitoring the development of communication on the Web with the goal of increasing the awareness of the problems related to personal data protection among children and their caregivers. PDPB take an active part – at the national, European and global levels – in the development of rules and guidelines for protecting portal users’ rights. It is illustrated by the adoption in 2008, during the 30^th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Strasbourg, of a resolution on the protection of children’s privacy on the Internet and a resolution on data protection in social networking sites, which provides a list of threats related to the use of social networking sites and offers recommendations for the providers and users of such sites. 

Intensified efforts and coordinated cooperation – at the national and international levels – of many institutions that care about keeping children safe on social networking sites are necessary to protect the youngest users effectively. However, the most effective protection can be ensured by users themselves through reasonable handling of their personal data on the Web. Therefore, the need for education in this area has become more urgent than ever before.