Digital footprints as barriers for accessing e-government services
This article builds on existing literature on digital inequality and the digitised welfare state to elucidate one under-explored way in which the rise of e-government platforms further disadvantages already-marginalized people: by requiring that they possess a verifiable digital footprint distribute...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2022
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| Summary: | This article builds on existing literature on digital inequality and the digitised welfare state to
elucidate one under-explored way in which the rise of e-government platforms further
disadvantages already-marginalized people: by requiring that they possess a verifiable digital
footprint distributed across multiple public and commercial platforms. We illustrate the
pertinence and nuances of this particular risk through lived experience research in a UK
public library where limited users receive help with digital skills. Although there is a growing
recognition of both the inevitability of digital welfare and the risks to marginalised
communities, little work has been done to connect these abstract policy discussions to lived
experience – to pinpoint how digitisation creates these exclusions, beyond simply having
internet access or not. This article argues that the prerequisite of a digital footprint engenders
a double disadvantage: (1) lacking a digital footprint is the result of barriers that are largely
invisible to data-driven digital-by-default systems, and (2) when marginalised users establish
a sufficient footprint, this entails a disproportionately onerous responsibility for managing a
distributed personal data trail in the long-term. This combination of mundane barriers and the
burden of responsibility for a digital identity point to policy implications for governments
aiming to progress inclusive digital transformation agendas. |
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