The European country where using a smartphone while walking can land you in jail
The way we use technology can land us in jail for a long time, even though it is supposed to make our lives easier. This is because a new law that makes it unlawful to just take out your cell phone without facing serious repercussions was put into effect in one of the most visited countries in Central Europe.
We are talking about changing Poland's Homeland Defense and Counter-Espionage Law to make it illegal to take pictures in at least 25,000 specific locations across the country. This legislation became operative yesterday, April 17. It is difficult to avoid, according to legal experts, that the new law will impact not only suspicious people but also regular pedestrians who are carrying cell phones close to some of these thousands of locations.
There is no room for interpretation, ambiguity, or doubt in the law's text. The law states that "anyone, without a license, photographs or records an image of anything specified in Article 616A, bearing a mark prohibiting photography, or an image of a person, or of a movable object located on the aforementioned item, subject to imprisonment or a fine." "The following decision may be made in the event of committing the crime specified in Article 1: confiscation of the items obtained from this crime and used in its commission, even if they are not the perpetrator's property."
The consequences are severe and include fines of $900 to $4,000, five to thirty days in jail, and the confiscation of the cell phone or camera. bridges, seaports, defensively significant road tunnels, telecommunications infrastructure facilities, and locations connected to the National Bank of Poland and the National Economic Bank, among many other types of infrastructure, are included in the list of "prohibited sites" but are not specifically named.
It should be noted that professional photographers can request special permits to take photos in places such as those mentioned above, and the General Administration has 14 days to respond.