Spain: outcry against digital marginalisation
A petition against the digital exclusion of the old and the poor has collected almost 400,000 signatures on change.org: Carlos San Juan de Laorden, a resident of Valencia, is calling for more human customer care at bank branches instead of digitisation: "I am almost 80 years old and it makes me very sad that the banks have forgotten older people like me," he said. The national press is sympathetic to his cause.
Comfort for the young, a nightmare for the old
El País backs the protest:
“The latest report by Caritas and the Foessa Foundation shows that the digital divide has become a new factor for social exclusion. ... This divide could intensify in the coming years in the face of a recovery model that places digitisation at the centre of economic and social life. ... The administration must maintain personal care for as long as necessary. ... Digitisation as a comfort zone for the new generations should not become a source of fear for those who cannot or don't want to or don't know how to find their way in the digital sphere.”
We'll all be excluded
Journalist Irene Lozano writes in eldiario.es:
“The rebellion of the elderly against the banks shows us that we will all lose skills due to technological innovation, and before we grow old. ... It's enough to have just one person at the counter to serve customers who don't want to follow certain trends. Easy, isn't it? ... We should dispel the illusion that as the analogue generation dies out so will age-related digital exclusion. ... If we don't invest energy and resources to ensure this, this change will cause friction and will uproot us without us even moving.”