Marlena Sakowska-Była

Dr. hab. Marlena Sakowska-Była is a Professor at the University of Lodz, Faculty of Law and Administration, where she holds position at the Department of European Constitutional Law. She is a distinguished scholar specializing in information law, European law, constitutional law, and new technologies law, with particular expertise in personal data protection, public information access, and legal aspects of artificial intelligence. She also serves as the director of Postgraduate Studies "Law of New Technologies - Business and Public Sector Services" at the University of Lodz.

Professor Sakowska-Była's research focuses on the intersection of law, technology, and human rights. Her work explores critical areas including the legal frameworks for personal data protection (particularly GDPR implementation), access to public information, reuse of public sector information, and the legal challenges posed by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, drones, and digital health solutions. She investigates constitutional dimensions of information rights, examining how freedom of expression, privacy rights, and data protection principles interact within European and Polish constitutional frameworks. Her research also addresses practical implementation challenges faced by public administration and private entities in complying with evolving data protection regulations.

Her recent scholarly output demonstrates a clear trajectory toward increasingly complex digital governance issues. Over the past five years, her publications have evolved from foundational analyses of GDPR implementation to more sophisticated examinations of AI regulation, data altruism, open data ecosystems, and the interplay between national security concerns and data protection rights. A significant portion of her recent work addresses the practical implementation challenges of data protection regulations across various sectors including healthcare, local government, and financial services. She has made notable contributions to understanding how constitutional principles apply in digital contexts, particularly regarding the balance between transparency, privacy, and security.

Professor Sakowska-Była has received significant recognition for her contributions to legal scholarship and practice:

• Listed among "25 best female lawyers in business" by Forbes Women magazine and Women in Law Foundation (2022) in the category of "Academic Activity"
• Included in the "List of 100 People who contributed to improving digital skills of citizens in Poland" (2023)

Beyond her academic work, Professor Sakowska-Była maintains an active legal practice as a legal counsel, partner at Sakowska-Baryła, Czaplińska Legal Counsel Firm, and vice-president of SBC Inspektor Sp. z o.o. She serves as editor-in-chief of "ABI Expert," a respected journal focused on data protection and information security. She has supervised numerous postgraduate students through the programs she directs and has conducted training for over 20,000 participants on data protection and information law topics. She is also active in science popularization, maintaining a YouTube channel that explains data protection, information law, and new technologies to broader audiences.

Professor Sakowska-Była collaborates with multiple research centers including the Center for Personal Data Protection and Information Management at the University of Lodz, the Silesian Center for Legal Engineering, Technology and Digital Competencies CYBER SIENCE, and the Institute of New Technologies Law and Personal Data Protection at Lazarski University. She is a member of the Scientific Team of Experts at the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (appointed June 2024) and was previously vice-president of the Association of Data Protection Practitioners (2019-2023).