‘The technology giants seem to want to bulldoze their way through our futures without allowing us to make democratic choices concerning our own lives’

• IT is encouraging to read the letters you often publish from readers who struggle with or abstain from technology.

We live in a time where there is an unrestrained push towards an exclusively digital society. Yet people and governments spend little time considering the vast implications of this.

This rapid drive towards digitalisation was accelerated drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many of the changes imposed during lockdowns were, at the time, supposed to be temporary measures for unprecedented public health reasons, but they did not change back after the pandemic, such as booking appointments, tickets etc online.

As somebody who does not have, or want to have, a smartphone or internet connection, I am finding that it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry out even the essentials of life, let alone to enjoy many of the social activities that I used to.

What is worse, I have sleepless nights as I fear how an imposed digital future is becoming a reality and whether I will be able to survive.

Many people I speak to on this subject tell me that this is “progress”, and compare it with technological advances of the past, such as the telephone or television.

However there is one very fundamental difference with current technology, that we are not going to have any choice in the matter.

We have always been able to choose whether or not to have a TV, a washing machine, etc, but we are reaching a stage where we can no longer do simple, everyday, tasks without the internet, an app, smartphone.

There may be courses available at local libraries to assist the elderly and those who are not technologically minded to learn computer skills, and this is fine for people who want to acquire those skills.

But there are, and will always be, people for whom this is simply impossible, with memory loss, frailty, mental illness, disabilities, vulnerable living situations, the homeless, the poor.

We are increasingly told to ask our children or grandchildren to help us. But what if we don’t have any?

What is more, some of us just do not want to be forced to stare at screens, and prefer to speak, work, and interact, with fellow human beings.

All this new technology raises issues we have never before encountered. Human values are replaced by cold algorithms, young people are growing up totally relying on smart technology, and common sense is rapidly diminishing.

We have always had the right to live a simple and uncomplicated life if we choose. This right is being eroded and so few question it.

So letters that you publish from others in the same position are very comforting to read and give glimmers of hope.

I recently found out that Age UK are running a campaign called Offline and Overlooked, including a petition to sign.

The campaign aims to lobby government in making decisions and to demand that there are always non-digital ways to access services, pay bills, make appointments etc.

The campaign is, of course, online. But they do have a Freepost address which allows us to write to them with our concerns and request a paper copy of the petition. The address is simply: FREEPOST AGE UK CAMPAIGNS.

According to Age UK, there are six million of us who are not on the internet, and we are becoming increasingly excluded.

I wonder why our voice is so seldom heard? The technology giants seem to want to bulldoze their way through our futures without allowing us to make democratic choices concerning our own lives.

I refuse to be forced into this technology against my will, and ask that others who feel like me will also make their voices heard.

P MARTIN, EC1