Many essential services now require people to manage accounts, authentication, identity and sensitive information online. When someone needs help, the very safeguards designed to protect them can also make safe assistance difficult.
What we are exploring
Digital Inclusion Whanganui is examining what happens when people need legitimate help using essential online services, including government, banking and identity services. We are particularly interested in where authentication, privacy, security and account-access requirements create barriers to safe assistance.
Why this matters
People should not have to choose between getting the help they need and compromising their privacy, security or control. Understanding where assistance pathways work well — and where they create unnecessary risk or friction — can help inform better practice and better service design.
What we are learning
The barriers are not always about a person’s digital skills. Sometimes the difficulty lies in the service itself — particularly when someone needs trusted help but the available assistance pathways are unclear, hard to find or difficult to use safely.
By looking closely at these situations, DIW can identify recurring points of friction, examples of good practice and opportunities for services to make legitimate assistance safer and easier.