Super Connected Lives on the Digital Dial
True stories from people navigating a world where real-life choices are quietly being replaced by digital-only systems.
These are real stories from people struggling to live fully in a world designed for screens. Over the next six months, we’re gathering these stories to support our UK Government petition calling for protected, non-digital access to essential services. You can add your story by sending it here, and read more about the petition here.
Every story helps show why real-world choice matters.
1. The Woman at the Festival - 25th May 2025
Last weekend my partner and I went to a little free day festival. It was lovely. They had a place where you could get a professional photo for a fiver, however there was an older woman who was queuing, she asked me if I was waiting to pick up the photo.
My partner and I explained to her that the photos are digital which requires an email, so she walked away looking very disappointed.
A while later we saw her again, while we were taking part in a raffle - to take part in the tombola you needed to sign up via email…we saw her walking past our queue with her head down. My heart sank. I said to my partner - surely they should have something for those without smart phones or not able to access tech.
I work with communities who find communication tricky, particularly around emails and messaging. Previously I've been to festivals where they only had contactless payments, and at that time I only had chip & pin, I remember feeling left out and disheartened I couldn't buy anything.
It's taken me a year to get onto my NHS app as initially it didn't recognise my face and kept telling me that I'm not me, which affected my treatments.
There's a million more examples that you or I could share, whether it's when shops till systems are down and they don't take cash, to people not able to scan QR codes to order food.
I'm not against technology- I love it! But it shouldn't be the only option open to us. People should be allowed to function without needing a smart phone. That's why I signed this petition. I'm signing it for the sweet woman we met at the festival last weekend. Thank you Tim Arnold.
Taz Edwards, London
2. The Man On The Bus - 30th May 2025
The morning Tim Arnold launched the Super Connected petition, I was riding a bus.
A guy got on and tried to pay his fare with his card but it didn't work and kept bleeping. He was old, a bit confused and struggling with mental health.
The bus driver repeated over and over again "no, your card doesn't work, no, no- use your phone, no, no- you can't pay with that- get off the bus, get off the bus"
I went up front to pay for him with my card, and realised the man had now taken out £60 in cash, and was trying to pay that way, but they don't take cash anymore - the bus driver was getting more and more frustrated, wouldn't let me pay for him, couldn't take cash, and told him he had to get off the bus because he couldn't pay. He eventually got bored of us both and told us to sit down.
Walking back towards some disapproving tuts from other passengers aimed at the guy trying to pay, I let them know he had money, he was trying, but it was a digital only system. And that weirdly enough, we'd just launched a petition about exactly this.
The lady behind me happened to be a union head in social services and signed it straight away- she said it was a huge issue in her field and making life very difficult for a lot of the people she supports.
Here’s a video of some artists, doctors and teachers lending their hearts and voices for us (and especially our most vulnerable) to still have the right to be able to get on buses, access prescriptions, read letters from hospitals, pay for parking, get into an event, do our homework- (do all the things of life! ) without being forced to use a digital device.
Hope you can sign: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/725049
Kate Alderton
Add your story by sending it here, and read more about the petition here.
