How to end your phone addiction once and for all | Letter

Sarah Sorensen says we should be hanging up on surveillance capitalism

The Guardian has published quite a lot of articles recently expressing some concern over the use of smartphones. EmmaBeddington's piece (My phone knows what I want before I do. That should be worrying - but it's oddly comforting, 10 March) is perhaps the most alarming to date, mitigated to onlysome degree by herself-awareness. Buthelpisathand.

There is a simple way in which we can set ourselves free. Remove the battery if possible, then take your biggest hammer and set to work on the rest. The more cost-effective solution is not to buy one in the first place. I never have and it's still rarely a problem, though surveillance capitalism tries hard to make it one. Oldish people like myself are less likely to own smartphones, increasingly likely to be marginalised as a result, lucky to remember life without their constant intrusion.