When OTP is not 'One Time Password': multiplicity of acronyms deny access to services

The transformation of tools into technology is part of the process of human development. My laptop for instance is a milestone in a journey that began with charcoal or sharp stones used on the walls of caves. The metamorphosis of tools into technology resulted in a mind shift - from survival to ease of living and currently to achieving social equity.

The SARSCoV2 pandemic has shown the importance of making the availability of technology secular. There are enough stories of children missing out on school because their parents cannot afford a smart phone or an internet connection or because they are living in rural India where high-speed internet connectivity is lacking.

However, besides failed leadership and socio-economic causes of a technology divide there is also one that is age related. Educated well to do senior citizens who may have been exposed to technology professionally are now prone to feel this divide. With technology becoming a bridge to access services it adds a layer of difficulty in the lives of the older generation. The confusion caused by acronyms and abbreviations used in accessing technology enabled services is a case in point.

The first acronym was developed in 1879 by Walter P. Phillips while creating a telegraphic code for the United Press Association. In this instance, acronyms were key to the successful percolation of a technology through society.

For most, OTP has come to mean ‘One Time Password’ - a set of numbers that comes via SMS which needs to be inputted online. This is part of a process to ensure the security of an online financial transaction. One is habituated to the steps that come before and after receipt of an OTP, including the importance of keeping the mobile phone handy and having electricity and good internet connectivity during the entire process.

But what happens when the abbreviation OTP is used by another procedure and comes to mean ‘Online Transaction Process’? What if the use of OTP in these new types of transactions does not entail the steps that is associated with the original? It will naturally confuse people and make them doubt the entire process. The NSE Mutual Fund platform uses OTP to signify an altogether different process.

There is also the issue of different terminology to access similar processes. Each bank uses different terms and processes on the landing page of their internet banking site for their customers to access their account. Some banks have ‘user id’, others ‘login id’, while others have ‘customer id’. Password is the only common term found in all these sites. For a senior citizen with more than one bank account this becomes another hurdle to cross.

Prime Minister Modi views the creation of acronyms and terminologies as a sign of his modernity and communication skills. In the last 7 years OUR DEAR leader has coined ROAD (Responsibility, Ownership, Accountability and Discipline) which, in his case, is habitually AWOL (Absent Without Leave) in times of crisis; Modi also spoke of P2G2: Pro-People Good Governance, unfortunately also missing for quite some time.

If the country’s Coiner-in-Chief-of-Acronyms finds it difficult to make acronyms actionable, can you imagine the difficulties faced by educated senior citizens who have spent a lifetime in responsible roles?

Though one can debate the value of social media platforms such as Facebook, it is true that it has stretched the concept of friends and the concept of social interaction to tenuous levels. Technology gives the mirage of being in touch and of easy accessibility. However, to cut costs businesses use technology to distance themselves from the consumers they are supposedly serving. Putting in place a technological interface reduces their manpower costs and simultaneously acts as a deterrent to anyone attempting to raise an issue while promising 24x7 customer service.

For the young this may not be an issue because they have grown with it. However, consider the implications of an IVR in the financial sector for the aged and semi-literate. The problems are manifold- putting the phone on speaker, choosing the keyboard function, remembering the options and so on. There are physical challenges that senior citizens face as they try to work through the process - diminished hearing and sight, slower reflexes and reduced hand eye coordination make the entire process frustrating.

What is worse is the sense of insecurity and unfulfillment the process breeds. This is because there is almost a genetic predisposition to have confidence on a process, especially between two humans, when those involved can see the other. A face not only ensures continuity in the problem-solving process but the promise of memory and an interaction that quickly provides answers to doubts that crop up as the problem heads towards resolution. It is not difficult to imagine the outcome for a senior citizen who has dealt with customer service.

Telemedicine is all well and good until it comes to senior citizens and the socio-economically backward. Undoubtedly, technology is developed and promoted based on certain assumptions. Therefore, it caters to some segments of the population. To promote it as a panacea for the entire population is unjust and a complete eyewash of its actual reach and efficacy.

The issues range from finding the app store on the smartphone, to recognising the app and downloading it, to uploading medical documents to making online payments. It therefore threatens the wellbeing of those who cannot access these online facilities and find that offline facilities are being reduced because of an unjustified confidence in the online version. The reduction in offline facilities is done to force people to use the online version.

In all seriousness there are lighter moments too. My partner had just wished my aunt on WhatsApp. Unsure whether my aunt had saved her number, my partner had signed off with ‘this is Aditi BTW’. My aunt called back to clarify whether BTW was an initialism of her surname.

The ongoing technology divide is creating a service accessibility divide. This is not being recognised because of the belief that modernity implies development and use of technology. This is an incorrect belief of what modernity stands for.

Modernity is the provision of technology, or its alternatives based on the capabilities of the population. Until this is understood large sections of the population will continue to bear the brunt of the technology divide.