Digital Exclusion

by Kyle Scott, manager of the CAS Strong Communities team.

This article was first published in the Herald on 25 April 2026.

9% of households in Scotland have no access to the internet. Whether through poverty, geography or lack of skills, this makes it hard for them to get basic services that the rest of us take for granted.  

In the Citizens Advice network we have long campaigned to raise awareness of this issue and help those affected. 

But even for those of us who advocate on their behalf, it is hard to understand what it means to be truly excluded from digital services. 

So recently I decided to gain some personal perspective on what it is actually like. I put my phone and laptop in a drawer and took myself ‘off-grid’ for 24 hours.  Here’s what my day was like. 

I started off trying to book a GP appointment, which – let's face it - is challenging at the best of times. I headed to my local library to find the GP’s number. The staff were kind enough to let me use their telephone to book an appointment. Not too hard, but then I’m fortunate to have access to a local library.  

I then went to my local bank branch to pay my rent, which would normally be done through the banking app on my phone. Some transport challenges getting there without using tap-to-pay, but once there the bank staff walked me through the process.  

Again, I’m fortunate to have access to a local bank branch. For some people, particularly in rural areas, these are a thing of the past - and that’s where the intersection of digital and financial exclusion is really visible.  

Anyway, next I needed to renew my passport, so I popped back to the library to do this online.  

This went OK until I had to upload a digital picture. Spent an hour looking for somewhere I could get a digital picture taken and then upload it, having no luck whatsoever.  

Giving up, I went to meet a friend. Normally she’ll text or call to say she’ll be a bit late (in reality by about an hour) and I’ll sit patiently waiting. But this time there’s no text, no call, just me sitting in a coffee shop for two hours. I can’t check to make sure she’s okay. (Full disclosure, she was - she’d had to rush off to the vet with her dog).  

Going home, I spent the evening making dinner with only the radio and some well-read books for entertainment. I can’t claim this was a great hardship, but I must admit I was relieved to get my hands on my phone and plug in the laptop again next morning.  

So yes, I survived. But it wasn’t easy – and that was just one day. Plus I’m a healthy 31 year-old who lives in a city with libraries, banks and decent transport links. I can well understand now how tough it must be to be permanently off-grid, particularly for those who have none of those advantages.  

The next Scottish Government must take steps to end digital exclusion entirely. And if any ministers – or any readers – think this is not a priority issue, my challenge is: do what I did. Try it and find out.