The final driver of off-grid living is the choice by some to be on-grid, but invisible. Drivers of this include privacy concerns or a desire to be un-contactable. It also includes those who are operating in the black economy or criminal worlds. One recent arena where this activity has grown significantly is access to and use of the dark web. The dark Web is a part of the deep Web that has been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard Web browsers.

For some, this is shifting the World Wide Web back to how it was originally envisioned: a space beyond the control of individual states, where ideas can be exchanged freely without fear of being censored. Although often characterised as a place where organized crime and paedophiles congregate, the majority of current user of the dark web are actually law-abiding citizens who simply don’t want to be monitored and tracked to the extent that is now the norm on the public ‘surface’ web. While less that 0.03% of the size of the World Wide Web when counted by sites, the Tor network (as one type of the dark web is sometimes known – named after the underlying software) is used by millions of people keen to mask their IP addresses. Some see that, as increasing government monitoring becomes more widely understood and the value of personal data becomes visible, there will be a significant shift as more users migrate to the dark web. Experts at Chatham House, for one, see that, alongside providing an invisible communication route for criminals and terrorists, the dark web empowers anyone who wants control over his or her online footprint. Ironically it may actually help protect children’s online activity. Going forward it is the potential for anonymity which some see will attract more of us on the surface web to go dark.

Off-grid living provides both benefits and challenges. Key benefits include: reducing stress, increasing happiness, reducing environmental footprint, ironically increased connectedness (with the planet, those around you) and reduced cost. Regularly cited challenges are increased inequality. For example digital inequality of access creates division, with many studies showing that that the digital divide exacerbates economic, social and democratic inequality, whether real or perceived. This division can lead to tension and instability between the haves and the have-nots, with organisations and movements developing to redress the balance (e.g. Occupy or, more controversially, Islamic State).

New commercial opportunities are already emerging in the provision of products and services for those for those who are choosing to live off-grid, from familiar brands such as Facebook opening presences on the dark web, to un-attributable payments with Bitcoin, to technology leaders such as Tesla creating batteries to power off-grid homes.

Looking forward, the intent, enshrined in many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure that “no-one is left behind”, provides an incredible innovation opportunity for many. This could be around improving access through increased infrastructure investment or subsidy. Or ensuring that those that are left behind are shielded from social and political instability, worker strikes or the potential for increased mental health issues as hopelessness and unhappiness increases in groups that are left behind. It may also be about improving services to those who choose to be off-grid, from Amazon’s drone delivery to hotels creating digital detox offers or employers providing opportunities for their employees to escape.