From the Social Production of Indifference to the Digital Production of Invisibility. Experiencing the digitalization of bureaucracy in the Netherlands through the DigiD interface

Abstract

In the Netherlands, Dutch residents can handle their administrative tasks online via their DigiD. DigiD is a form of online ID that enables Dutch residents to prove their identity when they log in to a government website. I approach DigiD as a form of digital bureaucracy and wonder whether this new form of bureaucracy does face the same issues as non-digital forms of bureaucracy do. By focusing on the Dutch residents' experiences of the digitalization of bureaucracy, I draw from Michael Herzfeld's conceptualization of bureaucracy and argue that this digital bureaucracy has gone from "the social production of indifference" to the digital production of invisibility.