Banks, doctor’s offices, car-sharing services – they all depend on digital access. But it excludes those who do not want or cannot be digital.
When car sharing was still completely analogue Photo: Ray van Zeschau/imago
Recently I tried to make an appointment with an orthopedist. But no one answered the phone. The practice’s website only states “Please make an appointment via Doctolib”. A few weeks earlier, an email came from the bank: I should get the new app, the old banking process will soon be permanently stopped. Something similar with the mobile phone provider: use the app instead of calling the customer portal hotline. It’s hidden somewhere deep in the print anyway.
Even the last people who believed that they had the right to an analogue life now realize that this is a mistake.
And so it goes on. For me it is not worth having your own car in front of the door, so I compare car sharing providers. The most promising requires not only installing the app, but also using Google services or an iPhone. In other words: the terror of digitalization stops nothing and no one. Even the last people who believed that they had the right to an analogue life now realize that this is a mistake.
But what about all those who don’t have a suitable device or can’t use it? They are de facto forced to adapt digitally. However, this does not only promote financial power in the hands of mobile companies. They also know how to use customer data for their own benefit. This is dangerous: Doctor portals collect large amounts of sensitive health data, while other websites hoard private data and user analytics.
Privacy, digital self-determination and the opportunity for equal participation in all areas of life are kept to a minimum. While critical media literacy is declining, especially among young people.
The Digitalcourage association, which is now calling for a “right to live without digital coercion” in the Basic Law with a signature campaign, is only asking for something that should be self-evident. In fact, this should be part of a living democracy. Digital age or not.