The Guide to the GDPR was written in 2018 and until this day (June 2025) remains the most popular book on the GDPR in Poland, reaching a circulation of approximately 15,000 copies (including the expanded edition covering the Polish Personal Data Protection Act). The English version was published in 2019.
Since the first edition of the Guide, both the doctrine and practical application of the GDPR have developed exponentially. As a result, some of the views expressed in this book are no longer up to date. For example, the thesis that the conditions for lawful processing of special categories of personal data under Article 9(2) GDPR eliminate the need to meet the requirements of Article 6(1) GDPR has not stood the test of time. Both provisions must be applied cumulatively.
Although some of the views in the Guide have become outdated, it remains one of the best publications for truly understanding the GDPR and learning how to apply it in practice.
For these reasons, I decided to reclaim the publication rights from its original publisher, Wolters Kluwer International, and to republish the Guide, this time under open access. I would like to thank Wolters Kluwer International for publishing the first English edition and for transferring the rights to the book back to me.
Maciej Gawronski
About the editor
Maciej Gawronski is a Polish attorney-at-law, Certified International Privacy Professional-Europe of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, specializing in new technologies, dispute resolution, and regulations, and the managing partner of the Polish law firm GP Partners.
In 2021, for his contribution and special engagement in developing educational activities to spread data protection knowledge, Maciej was honored with the “Michal Serzycki” Award of the Polish Data Protection Office.
Since 2006 rankings such as Chambers Europe, Legal500, Best Lawyers, Who’s Who Legal 100 (Lexology Index), Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers Legal Benchmarking Group, Managing Intellectual Property, Expert Guides, recognise Maciej in Data Protection, Dispute Resolution, Franchise, Intellectual Property, IT, Patent Disputes in Life Sciences, Technology, Media, Telecommunications, Trademark and Copyright Disputes.
Maciej authored two Number 1 legal bestsellers in Poland. He wrote and edited the Polish version of the Guide to the GDPR, most popular Polish legal book of 2018 and 2019 by Wolters Kluwer Poland, titled: "RODO. Przewodnik ze wzorami" (The Guide to the GDPR with Templates), recommended by the Polish Data Protection Office. Together with Piotr Biernatowski also from GP Partners, Maciej wrote and edited the most popular Polish legal book of 2022 by Wolters Kluwer Poland, titled: "Jak pisać pisma procesowe i prowadzić komunikację w sporze czyli książeczka o pisaniu pism" (How to Write Pleadings and Communicate in Disputes, or The Little Book on Drafting Pleadings), published in English as “The Little Book on Drafting Pleadings”.
Maciej served as European Commission Expert on Cloud Computing Contracts, Article 29 Working Party Expert on data transfers where he contributed ideas implemented in the GDPR (subprocessors liability, personal data portability, electronic form of data processing agreement).
GP Partners Gawroński, Biernatowski sp.k., headquartered in Warsaw, is a Polish business law firm specialising in technology, dispute resolution, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, financial sector regulation, and public procurement.
GP Partners’ lawyers have been recognised by international rankings in categories such as: Data Protection, Dispute Resolution, Fintech, Franchise, Intellectual Property, IT, Media, Patent Disputes in Life Sciences, Public Procurement, Technology, Telecommunications, Trademark and Copyright Disputes, as well as Client Satisfaction.
TheBrain and TheCybercop used by GP Partners are based on illustrations by Daniel Mróz for The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem. We would like to thank Ms. Łucja Mróz-Raynoch for licensing her father Daniel Mróz’s works to GP Partners.
A note from the editor
Dear Reader
Rember this book is from 2018/2019. If you're interested in current European data protection law, AI law, technology or intellectual property matters, or Polish business law, feel free to reach out to me at Maciej.Gawronski@gppartners.pl or connect with me on LinkedIn.
