# Digital welfare state - [‘Digital welfare state’: big tech allowed to target and surveil the poor, UN …](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/16/digital-welfare-state-big-tech-allowed-to-target-and-surveil-the-poor-un-warns) > In the UK, he notes, 12 million people, or one in five of the population, do not have essential digital skills needed for modern day-to-day life." > Instead of inflicting misery on millions, digital technology could be used as a force for good. It could “ensure a higher standard of living for the vulnerable and disadvantaged, devise new ways of caring for those left behind. That would be the real digital welfare state revolution.