| In Principle

In recent days, it was widely reported in the media that a well-known manufacturer began testing a system allowing for display of personalised ads in cars. But attentive drivers are not surprised. It is no secret that a modern car is a computer on four wheels, as it processes large amounts of data to ensure safety, transport efficiency, and access to navigation and infotainment services.

Autonomous vehicles will be an essential part of the mobility of the future. Cars can already relieve the driver in many situations, and the R&D sector for autonomous vehicles is booming. Companies are investing in sensor and machine-learning technology, creating pilot programmes to test self-driving vehicles at levels 4 and 5 of automation. But the export of some of these technologies may be restricted due to potential military applications.

Autonomous cars are slowly becoming a reality, accompanied by logistical, technological and legal barriers. The Polish parliament has already made some initial legislative steps by introducing, for example, a definition of an autonomous motor vehicle and a procedure for testing such vehicles on public roads. However, there is a need for further statutory regulation of insurance products and insurance companies tasked with providing compulsory third-party liability protection in a situation of great uncertainty and legal gaps.

The classification of damaged and post-accident vehicles imported to Poland as waste still raises many doubts. Recent judgments of administrative courts confirm a strict approach to this issue in judicial practice, posing significant risk for importers of such cars.

Poland will be the biggest beneficiary of the upcoming European Union financial perspective for 2021–2027. The two main objectives for funding in the new financial perspective, i.e. Smart Europe and Green Europe, are in line with the objectives of the modern automotive sector. Therefore, its players can count on solid support.

Vehicle production is based on a supply chain system. During a pandemic, the risk increases that not all links in the chain will function properly. It is worth considering this risk in the context of restructuring and bankruptcy law.

On 16 February 2021 the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment released for public consultations a draft of the regulation on the maximum price for electricity generated at an offshore wind farm and introduction into the grid, in PLN per MWh, which is the basis for calculating the right to coverage of a negative balance. This amount is set at PLN 301.50/MWh (about EUR 67/MWh). This means that this will be the maximum amount of support from the Polish state for wind farms built in the Polish area of the Baltic Sea, which will be allocated within the next four months.

On 12 February 2021, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development, Labour and Technology, Jarosław Gowin, announced that the ministry has submitted to the government for inclusion in its agenda a proposal to amend the so-called 10H Distance Act. This means that in about two weeks, the public consultation process will begin, lasting another three weeks.

The programme is a synthesis (up to 10 minutes) of important current events in the Polish economy and changes to Polish law, especially those that may concern management board members and affect the risk of serving on boards.

In previous articles in our series we discussed whether data can be subject to property rights or can be protected within known categories of intangibles. Today we will consider if and when data can be protected as a trade secret.

Last year ended with a series of fines imposed by the President of the Personal Data Protection Office. They show the importance of taking take care of data security—and how costly it can be if you don’t.

To complement our previous considerations about the civil-law status of data, we should analyse the possibility of using data to create security interests in business transactions. The increasing economic value of data inspires a search for effective ways to collateralise these assets.