WorldRisk

Which passport do you hold?

Risk to a traveller depends on their nationality. A country that sanctions your destination, or is sanctioned by it, changes how you are treated on arrival. Choosing here adjusts every score on the site.

We hold travel advice written for four nationalities so far. Selecting anything else shows the neutral baseline, and every page says so where it applies rather than presenting it as an assessment made for you.

Kept in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere, and you can change it at any time from the header.

All countries

Poland

35Caution35 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49good confidence(7/7 dimensions)
What this score means
Extreme75 to 100
Severe and systematic. Device search, interception and detention over online activity are documented rather than theoretical. Reconsider what you carry and what you say.
High50 to 74
Substantial and consistently evidenced measures. Device inspection, monitored networks or restricted services should be expected rather than treated as unlikely.
Caution25 to 49
Some risk, and manageable with precautions. Measures are evidenced but are narrow, inconsistently applied, or the picture is mixed.
Low0 to 24
Ordinary precautions. No systematic device search, network restriction or prosecution of visitors for online speech is evidenced.

Government travel advice is written for one citizenry, so the same country carries a different assessment depending on your passport. Change it in the header.

Showing the baseline, which weights every issuer equally. No government in our corpus publishes travel advice written for you, so this is not addressed to you specifically.

Dimensions

Each dimension is scored independently, because the traveller who cares about legal exposure for what they have posted is often not the one carrying client data. Higher means more risk.

Network threat

How hostile is the network environment to a foreign visitor, from state actors and criminals alike?

74High74 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence6 independent sources

Why this score (9 sources)

  • ITU Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, Technical pillar: 18.44 of 20.

    International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index · observed 2024-12-31

  • Perpetrators may compromise public Wi-Fi networks to steal credit card or personal information.

    Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories · observed 2026-10-16 · written for CAN nationals · extracted by language model

  • At remote substations linking renewable farms to the distribution network, devices started dropping offline one by one – a sequence later reconstructed in detail by Poland’s national incident response team, CERT Polska .

    Balkan Insight (BIRN), via a site scoped search · observed 2026-02-26 · extracted by language model

  • 経済成長に伴い、クレジットカードやインターネットに関連する詐欺も増加しています。

    Our translation: With economic growth, fraud related to credit cards and the internet is also increasing.

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information · observed 2026-10-16 · written for JPN nationals · extracted by language model

  • Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced that there is an ongoing cyberattack by Russian hackers against his Civic Platform (PO) party and two of its coalition partners, The Left (Lewica) and the Polish People’s Party (PSL).

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-05-16 · extracted by language model

  • Over the last year, there have been a series of acts of sabotage , disinformation and cyberattacks that Poland says were carried out by agents acting on behalf of Russia.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-05-12 · extracted by language model

  • President Karol Nawrocki has signed into law a government bill tightening the national cybersecurity system by barring “high-risk” vendors – particularly from non-NATO countries such as China – from sectors of the economy deemed crucial to the functioning of the state.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-02-21 · extracted by language model

  • The UK and EU are demanding urgent action from critical infrastructure organizations after formally attributing the December 2025 cyberattack on Poland's power grid to Russia's Federal Security Service.

    The Register feed · observed 2026-07-13 · extracted by language model

  • Using the tools they administer, popular websites such as auction and sales portals, IT domains, hosting services, and accommodation booking services were attacked,

    The Register feed · observed 2026-03-10 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2024-09-26: aged out after 2 years.

Surveillance and interception

How comprehensively are communications intercepted, retained, and monitored, and is commercial spyware in use?

52High52 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence4 independent sources

Why this score (9 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored POL 3 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored POL 3.02 of 4 on how comprehensively the government monitors social media and private online communication, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored POL 3.15 of 4 on how far privacy protection law shields communications from government access, where higher is freer. This measures what privacy law permits rather than what monitoring is practised, so it is read here as a constraint on interception rather than a measurement of it.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 scored POL 0.53 of 1 on whether freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy is effectively guaranteed, a measure built from expert assessments of warrantless interception of communications.

    World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6 · observed 2025-01-01

  • Siemoniak also noted that the CBA was at the heart of a legal controversy over the purchase and use of Pegasus spyware under the PiS government, which has been accused of using the tool to surveil political opponents rather than suspected criminals.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-03-13 · extracted by language model

  • A politician whose phone was surveilled with Pegasus spyware has won an apology and 200,000 zloty compensation from state TV, which published his private messages.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-06-16 · extracted by language model

  • Subsequently, according to an investigation carried out under the current government, hundreds of people were targeted for surveillance with Pegasus during PiS’s time in power.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-02-21 · extracted by language model

  • Prosecutors have charged two former heads of Polish security agencies in relation to the use of Pegasus spyware under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-02-26 · extracted by language model

  • The case against him concerns testimony he gave to a parliamentary inquiry into the use of Pegasus spyware under the former PiS government.

    Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-03-07 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

5 excluded sources
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2020-07-01: aged out after 6 years.
  • Balkan Insight (BIRN), via a site scoped search, observed 2019-07-01: aged out after 7 years.
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2022-07-01: aged out after 4 years.
  • Euractiv, via a site scoped search, observed 2024-02-13: aged out after 3 years.
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2024-05-29: aged out after 2 years.

Speech and legal exposure

What legal risk attaches to what I have said online, or say while I am there?

46Caution46 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence7 independent sourcesEvidence is ageing: contributing sources are weighted at 69% of full strength.

Why this score (15 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2024-09-19: aged out after 2 years.

Data jurisdiction

What happens to corporate or client data I carry into the jurisdiction?

26Caution26 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

moderate confidence1 independent source

Why this score (1 source)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Border device risk

How likely is my device to be searched, imaged, or seized at the border, and can I be compelled to unlock it?

16Low16 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence5 independent sources

No reports were found of devices being searched, imaged or seized at this border, or of travellers being compelled to unlock them. The score below is drawn from general indicators for this country rather than from anything observed about this risk, so it describes an absence of reports rather than evidence that the risk is absent.

What the score rests on (5 indirect sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Encryption and VPN legality

Are VPNs and strong encryption lawful, and can I be required to install an application or hand over keys?

16Low16 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence2 independent sources

Why this score (2 sources)

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored POL 3.94 of 4 on whether the government regulates the internet in a way consistent with international human rights standards, where higher is freer. This does not establish whether encryption or VPN use is lawful. It measures internet regulation in general, and is used as indirect evidence because the only survey that reads encryption law directly was published in 2019.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • OONI confirmed blocking on 186 of 177,105 measurements of anonymity and censorship circumvention tools in POL over the 90 days to 2026-10-16, a confirmed blocking rate of 0.11 percent, with 1,643 further results inconclusive.

    Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data · observed 2026-10-16

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Connectivity continuity

How likely am I to lose access to the internet, or to the specific tools I depend on?

15Low15 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence9 independent sources

Why this score (14 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search, observed 2023-12-28: aged out after 3 years.

Trend

02550751002026-08-162026-10-16

The overall score is up 10.8 points over 61 days, from 23.8 to 34.6. Most movement is the event overlay decaying rather than anything happening: a news signal loses half its weight every three weeks, so a score drifts back toward its structural baseline on its own. A step that holds is the one worth reading.

Check this yourself

These are not inputs to the score for Poland. They are where to look if you want to test what is above against something we did not use.

Sources

This assessment draws on 15 sources: Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise; Balkan Insight (BIRN), via a site scoped search; CIVICUS Monitor country updates; Freedom House, Freedom in the World; Georgia Tech Internet Intelligence Lab, Internet Outage Detection and Analysis; Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories; International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information; Notes from Poland, via a site scoped search; Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data; The Register feed; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice; US Department of State, Travel Advisories; V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project; World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6. Every contributing claim is quoted with its origin and date above. Model version 0.12.0, computed 2026-10-16.

If something here is wrong, say so. Corrections are handled in public, and we correct because the evidence is wrong, not because someone objects.