His comments followed the release of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), which warned that those with powerful technological and economic tools can shape culture and influence perceptions of truth. The pope described this as “pure power devoid of truth” and cited philosopher Hannah Arendt’s warning that indifference to truth can ultimately lead to totalitarianism.
Oleszczuk-Zygmuntowski said the encyclical highlights a broader threat than cybersecurity or economic digitization.
“The pope indicates that increasingly automated systems of data processing, decision-making and information flows are destroying democratic society, replacing it with a totalitarian system”, he said.
The economist argued that Poland has long discussed digital sovereignty but has failed to translate awareness into action. He said Western European countries are investing in domestic innovation and modern industry while Poland remains heavily dependent on foreign technology providers.
He pointed to large volumes of sensitive data held by the public sector, including health, financial and industrial information, and warned about agreements between strategic companies and major cloud-service providers. Such arrangements, he said, raise concerns because companies subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act may be required to provide data to American authorities.
“Any entity that signs an agreement with a company subject to the CLOUD Act should be aware that, for reasons of U.S. national security, American services have the right to obtain any information and any data from that company”, he said.
Oleszczuk-Zygmuntowski argued that storing data in European data centers does not eliminate those concerns if the parent company remains subject to U.S. law.
Despite the challenge, he said alternatives exist and are technologically and financially achievable. He cited Polish cloud provider CloudFerro, whose services are used by the European Space Agency, and noted that European countries are developing their own digital tools, including France’s La Suite and Germany’s Nextcloud.
“Europe is waking up”, he said. “It is aware of the challenge and is building solutions”.
He also pointed to Poland’s mObywatel digital services platform as evidence that domestic digital projects can succeed. However, he said many government institutions continue to rely on products and communications systems provided by large technology firms.
Oleszczuk-Zygmuntowski said the recently established government open-source team and the development of the social platform PLZ are positive signs, but added that progress is coming “too slowly and too late”.
He also announced the creation of SPOIWO, an alliance promoting open-source software and digital sovereignty. The group aims to encourage practical alternatives to proprietary systems and greater public access to software developed with taxpayer funds.
(jh)
Source: PAP