Navigating Privacy Regulations: Administrative Burden of Digital Self-Services for Vulnerable Citizens | SpringerLink
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Navigating Privacy Regulations: Administrative Burden of Digital Self-Services for Vulnerable Citizens

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Electronic Participation (ePart 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14891))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 588 Accesses

Abstract

Balancing privacy regulations and usability is a challenge in the delivery of government welfare services through digital self-services. This study explores the experiences of vulnerable citizens with digital self-services in government welfare services, focusing on the administrative burdens of privacy regulation vulnerable citizens experience when trying to access and use the benefits for which they are eligible. Through interviews, focus groups and observations, three key costs - compliance, psychological, and learning – are examined. The findings shed light on how privacy regulation worsens the burden and usability of self-services and reproduce socioeconomic inequalities for vulnerable citizens by (1) limiting access to support, (2) putting them at risk of identity theft and fraud, and (3) demanding excessive documentation with limited opportunities to resubmit.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
JPY 3498
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
JPY 7435
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
JPY 9294
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Falk, S., Römmele, A., Silverman, M.: Digital Government. Springer, Cham (2017)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Breit, E., et al.: Digital coping: how frontline workers cope with digital service encounters. Soc. Policy Admin. 55(5), 833–847 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pors, A., Schou, J.: Street-level morality at the digital frontlines: an ethnographic study of moral mediation in welfare work. Admin. Theory Praxis 43(2), 154–171 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lindgren, I., et al.: Exploring citizens’ channel behavior in benefit application: empirical examples from Norwegian welfare services. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Lindgren, I., et al.: Close encounters of the digital kind: a research agenda for the digitalization of public services. Gov. Inf. Q. 36, 427–436 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2019.03.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bataineh, E., B. Al Mourad, and F. Kammoun. Usability analysis on Dubai e-government portal using eye tracking methodology. in 2017 Computing conference. 2017. IEEE

    Google Scholar 

  7. Galvez, R.A., Youngblood, N.E.: E-Government in Rhode Island: what effects do templates have on usability, accessibility, and mobile readiness? Univ. Access Inf. Soc. 15(2), 281–296 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Huang, Z., Benyoucef, M.: Usability and credibility of e-government websites. Gov. Inf. Q. 31(4), 584–595 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Islam, M.N., Rahman, S.A., Islam, M.S.: Assessing the usability of e-government websites of Bangladesh. In: 2017 International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Communication Engineering (ECCE). IEEE (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Venkatesh, V., Hoehle, H., Aljafari, R.: A usability evaluation of the Obamacare website. Gov. Inf. Q. 31(4), 669–680 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lyzara, R., et al.: E-government usability evaluation: Insights from a systematic literature review. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Software Engineering and Information Management (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Shneiderman, B.: Universal usability: pushing human–computer interaction research to empower every citizen, in Media Access, pp. 275–286, Routledge. (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Joshi, J.B.D., et al.: Digital government security infrastructure design challenges. Computer 34(2), 66–72 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Jansson, G., Erlingsson, G.Ó.: More e-government, less street-level bureaucracy? On legitimacy and the human side of public administration. J. Inform. Tech. Polit. 11(3), 291–308 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Westin, A.F.: Privacy and freedom. Washington Lee Law Rev. 25(1), 166 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Madsen, C.Ø., Lindgren, I., Melin, U.: The accidental caseworker–how digital self-service influences citizens’ administrative burden. Gov. Inf. Q. 39(1), 101653 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Kotamraju, N.P., van der Geest, T.M.: The tension between user-centred design and e-government services. Behav. Inf. Technol. 31(3), 261–273 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Herd, P., Moynihan, D.P.: Administrative burden: Policymaking by other means. Russell Sage Foundation (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Zhao, J., Tomm, B.M.: Psychological responses to scarcity, in Oxford research encyclopedia of psychology (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Heinrich, C.J., Brill, R.: Stopped in the name of the law: administrative burden and its implications for cash transfer program effectiveness. World Dev. 72, 277–295 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Barnes, C.Y., Henly, J.R.: “They are underpaid and understaffed”: how clients interpret encounters with street-level bureaucrats. J. Public Admin. Res. Theory 28(2), 165–181 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Chudnovsky, M., Peeters, R.: The unequal distribution of administrative burden: a framework and an illustrative case study for understanding variation in people’s experience of burdens. Soc. Policy Admin. 55(4), 527–542 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hansen, H.T., Lundberg, K., Syltevik, L.J.: Digitalization, street-level bureaucracy and welfare users’ experiences. Soc. Policy Admin. 52(1), 67–90 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kim, E., Lee, B., Menon, N.M.: Social welfare implications of the digital divide. Gov. Inf. Q. 26(2), 377–386 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Baskerville, R.L., Myers, M.D., Yoo, Y.: Digital first: the ontological reversal and new challenges for IS research. MIS Q. 2020(44), 509–523 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ranchordás, S.: The digitization of government and digital exclusion: setting the scene. In: Blanco de Morais, C., Ferreira Mendes, G., Vesting, T. (eds.) The Rule of Law in Cyberspace. Law, Governance and Technology Series, vol. 49, pp 125–148. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07377-9_7

  27. Dodds, S.: Dependence, care, and vulnerability. Vulnerability: new essays in ethics and feminist philosophy, pp. 181–203 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Herd, P., et al.: Introduction: administrative burden as a mechanism of inequality in policy implementation. RSF: Russell Sage Found. J. Soc. Sci. 9(4), 1–30 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Nisar, M.A.: Children of a lesser god: administrative burden and social equity in citizen–state interactions. J. Public Admin. Res. Theory 28(1), 104–119 (2018)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  30. Heggertveit, I., Lindgren, I., Madsen, C.Ø., Hofmann, S.: Administrative burden in digital self-service: an empirical study about citizens in need of financial assistance. In: Krimmer, R., et al. (eds.) EPart 2022. LNCS, vol. 13392, pp. 173–187. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23213-8_11

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Lindström, C., Åman, J., Norberg, A.L.: Increased prevalence of burnout symptoms in parents of chronically ill children. Acta Paediatr. 99(3), 427–432 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Batchelor, L.L., Duke, G.: Chronic sorrow in parents with chronically ill children. Pediatr. Nurs. 45(4), 163–183 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Vonneilich, N., Lüdecke, D., Kofahl, C.: The impact of care on family and health-related quality of life of parents with chronically ill and disabled children. Disabil. Rehabil. 38(8), 761–767 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Christensen, J., et al.: Human capital and administrative burden: the role of cognitive resources in citizen-state interactions. Public Adm. Rev. 80(1), 127–136 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Collyer, F.M., Willis, K.F., Lewis, S.: Gatekeepers in the healthcare sector: knowledge and Bourdieu’s concept of field. Soc Sci Med 186, 96–103 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Larsson, K.K.: Digitization or equality: When government automation covers some, but not all citizens. Gov. Inf. Q. 38(1), 101547 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Nielsen, M.M.: The untapped potential: the inclusive, personal and co-created public service experience in Europe. In: Musiał-Karg, M., Luengo, Ó.G. (eds.) Digitalization of Democratic Processes in Europe. Studies in Digital Politics and Governance, pp. 165–188. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71815-2_13

  38. Madsen, J.K., Mikkelsen, K.S., Moynihan, D.P.: Burdens, sludge, ordeals, red tape, oh my!: a user’s guide to the study of frictions. Public Admin. 100(2), 375–393 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Askim, J., et al.: One-stop shops for social welfare: the adaptation of an organizational form in three countries. Public Admin. 89(4), 1451–1468 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Finne, J., Sadeghi, T., Løberg, I.B., Bakkeli, V., Sehic, B., Thørrisen, M.M.: Predictors of satisfaction with digital follow-up in Norwegian Labor and welfare administration: a sequential mixed-methods study. Soc. Policy Admin. 57(7), 1150–1165 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Fugletveit, R., Lofthus, A.-M.: From the desk to the cyborg’s faceless interaction in the Norwegian labour and welfare administration. Nordic Welf. Res. 6(2), 77–92 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Parker, A., Tritter, J.: Focus group method and methodology: current practice and recent debate. Int. J. Res. Method Educ. 29(1), 23–37 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Nyumba, O.T., Wilson, K., Derrick, C.J., Mukherjee, N.: The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods Ecol. Evol. 9(1), 20–32 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Braun, V., Clarke, V.: Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 3(2), 77–101 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Krippendorff, K.: Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology. Sage publications, Thousand Oaks (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Moynihan, D., et al.: Matching to categories: learning and compliance costs in administrative processes. J. Public Admin. Res. Theory 32(4), 750–764 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Hoglund Ryden, H., De Andrade, L.: The hidden costs of digital self-service: administrative burden, vulnerability and the role of interpersonal aid in Norwegian and Brazilian welfare services. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Alshallaqi, M., Al-Mamary, Y.H.: Paradoxical digital inclusion: the mixed blessing of street-level intermediaries in reducing administrative burden. Gov. Inf. Q. 41(1), 101913 (2024)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Madsen, C.Ø., Kræmmergaard, P.: Channel choice: a literature review. In: Tambouris, E., et al. EGOV 2015, vol. 9248, pp. 3–18. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22479-4_1

  50. Buffat, A.: Street-level bureaucracy and e-government. Public Manag. Rev. 17(1), 149–161 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Schwartz, B.: The tyranny of choice. Sci. Am. 290(4), 70–75 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Bekker, S.: Fundamental rights in digital welfare states: The case of SyRI in the Netherlands. Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2019: Yearbooks in International Law: History, Function and Future, pp. 289–307 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Halling, A., Baekgaard, M.: Administrative burden in citizen-state interactions: a systematic literature review. J. Public Admin. Res. Theory 34(2), 180–195 (2024)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Hilbert, L.P., Noordewier, M.K., van Dijk, W.W.: The prospective associations between financial scarcity and financial avoidance. J. Econ. Psychol. 88, 102459 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research for this paper was co-financed by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and the Research Council of Norway [project number 316246].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Ida Heggertveit

Authors
  1. Ida Heggertveit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ida Heggertveit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of South-Eastern Norway, Borre, Norway

    Marius Rohde Johannessen

  2. Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary

    Csaba Csáki

  3. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Lieselot Danneels

  4. University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Sara Hofmann

  5. University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems, Austria

    Thomas Lampoltshammer

  6. University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems, Austria

    Peter Parycek

  7. Zürich University, Zurich, Switzerland

    Gerhard Schwabe

  8. University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Efthimios Tambouris

  9. Technical University Delft, Delft, The Netherlands

    Jolien Ubacht

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Heggertveit, I. (2024). Navigating Privacy Regulations: Administrative Burden of Digital Self-Services for Vulnerable Citizens. In: Johannessen, M.R., et al. Electronic Participation. ePart 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14891. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-70804-6_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-70804-6_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-70803-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-70804-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships