Identity theft as a result of breach of personal data protection in the light of the GDPR, criminal laws and other legal regulations in the era of increasing cybercrime

This paper is aimed to draw attention to the widespread problem of identity theft in virtual space as a result of increasing technological progress and the increasingly significant involvement of society in cyberspace, which has become an area not only of culture and entertainment, but also work space, as well as the space for ordinary daily activities where flow, disclosure and deliberate or unintentional transfer of personal data take place – unfortunately, often without any precautions. The multitude and diversity of both guidelines and other legal regulations suggest that the field of personal data protection and cyberspace security is highly evolving and deserves special attention in a time of intensive implementation of IT solutions; this field requires the highest possible degree of adaptation. Importantly, drawing attention to the path of identity theft, most often initiated by a simple human error or negligence, leads to the conclusion that raising awareness in this area is crucial and that as much attention as possible should be devoted to this issue.