YOUR correspondents LM Goodfellow and SA Vangen state that they do not want to be pressured into buying a computer and going online.

I could afford to buy a computer and connect to the Internet, but will not do so as a matter of moral principle.

The computer and IT industries are very rich, powerful and influential, but cannot obtain profits from people who refuse to buy their products. No doubt they would love to make going online compulsory.

The commercial system would also profit, if people could be pressurised to communicate online. It’s far easier and cheaper for a business to type a single sales letter on a computer, then email it to everyone on the customer base.

But in order to receive the message online, each customer would have to pay for their computer and all the peripherals and the electricity to run it, and if they wanted a hard copy, pay for a printer, the inks and paper and again the electricity to run it.

I prefer not to pay for the communications I receive. My mobile phone company tried to pressure me into giving up a paper bill and instead view it online. I refused!

There are enormous dangers in a digital age. People bank online, shop online, date, learn, work and (especially in the case of teenagers) live online. Some people are very complacent about their own personal security and share their thoughts, beliefs and details of their daily lives with anyone who is ready to remove them.

The Internet is funded by advertising. Do people realise that you pay for your free emails by providing information. I am told that key words from emails are analysed to provide personal information, which is gold dust for advertisers.

In a free country, people who do not wish to buy a computer or go online have that right, and the right not to be prejudiced against because of their choice!

JIM CARTER, Southampton.