The “mObywatel” application as a sign of the increase of informatisation of the Polish society – critical remarks on the practical applicability of the tool

Abstract

The aim of this article is to indicate the importance of the informatisation of a society by way of example of the Polish “mObywatel” application used on mobile devices running the full Android operating system version 6.0 or higher and smartphones running iOS 13 or later, which constitutes a remarkable achievement compared to other Member States of the European Union. By means of this unique digital tool Polish citizens are able to facilitate many of their everyday activities which require, among others, making their documents available for inspection, e.g. during Police control, while travelling by train, when checking the validity of the EU Digital Covid Certificate at the airport or prescribed medicines at the pharmacy. However, although the “mObywatel” application becomes more popular, especially among young and middle-aged people, it is still subject to some significant limitations, often caused by the shortcomings of the current legislation and concerns relating to data protection. Hopefully, the process of introducing the European Digital Identity Wallet will have a major impact on even greater practical applicability of the analysed tool. It is worth noting that due to the lack of literature in this dynamically developing area, this study seems to be one of the very few scientific legal discussions on the topic which concentrates on this exceptionally interesting application.