Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya Cautions against Technology that “reduces persons to statistics,” Calls for Ethical Data Syste

Nairobi, 28 January, 2026 / 3:35 PM

The Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya has cautioned against approaches to technology and data governance that reduce human beings to mere statistics, calling for ethical systems that protect vulnerable individuals and uphold human dignity.

In his Tuesday, January 27 speech during the Sensitive Data Sovereignty Conference, which was held at Tangaza University (TU), the Nairobi-based institution that is jointly owned by 22 Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL), Archbishop Hubertus van Megen said that ethical systems should prioritize trust, responsibility and accountability to safeguard vulnerable groups especially the refugees and the sick.

“We must not observe vulnerability from afar through abstract data extraction, but accompany it through structures of trust, stewardship, and accountability. We should never reduce persons to statistics and numbers,” Archbishop van Megen said.

The Holy Father's representative in Kenya encouraged Africans to focus on applying knowledge that adds value to the life, harmony, and social cohesion of the communities.

“This affirms that true knowledge begins not with the accumulation of data, but with reverence, humility, and ethical orientation,” he said at the event that was held on the theme, “African Data and AI Sovereignty for Sensitive Health and Humanitarian Data.”

For him, “Knowledge must be developed around what matters within a particular community, rooted and localized in its social and cultural context. When data is solely extracted to add value elsewhere, knowledge becomes alienated from those who generated it. Meaning is distorted when data is severed from its provenance.”

The Dutch-born Vatican diplomat urged policymakers and technologists to design systems that contribute to the improvement of the lives of vulnerable communities, especially in the health sector.

He said that in the health sector, technology encounters “the most intimate realities of human life”, and added, “Health data emerge from moments of illness, uncertainty, suffering, and hope, and behind every data set stands a very vulnerable human person who has entrusted something deeply personal, often at a moment of helplessness.”

“This concern is especially urgent for vulnerable communities. Poorly designed digital systems can unintentionally exclude precisely those who need it most. Experiences of the poor, the sick, refugees, and those living in fragile contexts are deeply sensitive,” he added.

Archbishop van Megen called for greater ethical attention to the vulnerable individuals, warning against systems that exclude the needy.

“Development that excludes those who generate its resources is morally incoherent. In a digital context, data justice demands reciprocity, transparency, and benefit sharing. Data belong to people, and not people to data,” he emphasized.

The representative of the Holy Father in Kenya following his appointment in February 2019 underscored the importance of the Sensitive Data Sovereignty Conference to Africa where he said health and humanitarian data “often remain fragmented across incompatible platforms, dependent on short-term projects, or inaccessible to local institutions once programs end.” 

He said, “The consequences are real. Weakened continuity of care, limited research capacity, and reduced preparedness in times of crisis.”

“Data should remain close to where care is given, while knowledge is allowed to travel responsibly. In this approach, data stays, but knowledge travels. This respects sovereignty without abandoning solidarity,” Archbishop van Megen added.