Digital Inclusion Study: almost half of the people have never used “Clave Única”

A recent representative survey in several regions of the country reveals that 46% of people say they have never used this digital ID. The study also shows that 62% have never applied for state benefits online.

According to data from the Digital Government, there are more than 15 million active claves únicas and almost 2,000 online procedures that use this identifier. However, the Digital Inclusion Study, financed by Fondecyt and the Millennium Science Initiative, shows that these figures do not imply a widespread use of the tool.

The survey, which considered 1,200 people and was carried out face to face, in a representative manner, in different regions of the country, showed that 62% of the people surveyed have never applied for state benefits digitally. On the other hand, although there are 1,787 procedures that can be done online with the Clave Única, 46% say they have never used this mechanism to carry out state procedures.

Sergio Toro, academic at the Universidad Mayor and principal researcher of the Millennium Nucleus on Inequalities and Digital Opportunities (NUDOS), explains that the objective of the Clave Única is to establish a more direct relationship between the State and the citizen without the problem of having to be present in person.

In this regard, the Digital Government also manages figures on the monthly number of unique logins with the password and in March 2024 it was recorded that about 6 million people used it, that is, less than half of those who have it active.

For the NUDOS researcher, these data show a component that is not considered in the data handled by the Digital Government: intermediaries. “Although the State believes it has a significant coverage of people who have a Clave Única, and therefore carry out direct procedures with the institution, the fact that the survey we worked on with NUDOS detected a rather low level of knowledge regarding this digital identifier, shows that on many occasions other people, which we call digital intermediaries, are carrying out these procedures for the individual seeking the benefit”.

Teresa Correa, alternate director of NUDOS and co-author of the study, highlights the relevance of digital intermediaries to reach the population that does not know how to use these online tools. “The role of intermediaries such as children, relatives or community leaders is relevant, and we cannot continue advancing by leaps and bounds in the process of digitalization of the State without being clear that almost half of the people do not manage to have the digital interaction that the State assumes. There is a very important group of people who are being left out and even more so if they do not have networks to support them and do the paperwork for them”.