Today, digital communication technologies are increasingly embraced by industries, governments and everyday users. As both people and public ser-vices are imagined as digital or networked ‘by default’ (Fotopoulou 2016; Mejias 2013; GOV.UK 2013, 2017), engagement – whether civic, consumer-ist or otherwise – is now predominantly understood as digital. Those discon-nected from the digital are seen as ‘at risk’ of being ‘left behind’ (Helsper and Galácz 2009; Straumann and Graham 2016). The global Covid-19 pandemicforced societies further into digital reliance, both in tackling the virus via contact tracing and other forms of digital surveillance of public health, and in shifting most everyday activities online, to facilitate social distancing and minimise exposure to coronavirus. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2019, individuals, institutions, businesses and organisations have found themselves facing a world where digitality has rapidly become compulsory. It was not nec-essarily the best suitable choice, nor one most considerate of access, equality or efficiency. Rather, it was broadly seen as essential for the necessity, survival and social responsibility of protecting human life.