Tech Companies Predatory Relationship With the Elderly: A Window into a 96-Year-Old’s Online Journey

As the world rapidly digitizes, elderly individuals often find themselves navigating a complex digital landscape. A recent firsthand observation of a 96-year-old family member’s interactions with her iPhone reveals the unique challenges and risks faced by older adults attempting to remain tech-relevant.

Observations Highlighting Digital Challenges

1. Link Confusion in Emails: The elderly user frequently mistook links in emails as images or important attachments, leading her to accidentally draft numerous emails—57 drafts accumulated in her inbox. This confusion underscores a fundamental misunderstanding of email interfaces.
2. Engagement Button Risks: Clicking every button or link without hesitation, she unknowingly opened herself to scams. Her behavior made her a prime target for phishing attempts, with signs suggesting she may have already been victimized.
3. Temu and Engagement Traps: Her inbox was flooded with promotional emails from Temu, a platform she engaged with heavily. Gamified features like “spin for discount” reels kept her hooked, and she mistakenly believed she was earning significant credits and discounts.
4. PayPal Invoice and Phishing Scams: Numerous PayPal scams, often coupled with fake DocuSign notifications, cluttered her inbox. She almost fell prey to one involving a fraudulent Norton invoice for $399, attempting to “verify” the purchase by entering sensitive information.
5. Trust in All Emails: Using a small, outdated local email provider, she assumed anything in her inbox was legitimate. The provider’s lack of robust spam filtering exacerbated her vulnerability.
6. Medical App Barriers: Accessing test results from her doctor required navigating a patient portal. Printing these results became a hurdle as she lacked familiarity with WiFi printers and digital file-sharing processes.
7. Amazon 2FA Confusion: An Amazon shipping notification requiring login and two-factor authentication left her bewildered. She mistakenly entered credit card and password information in a text box meant for a verification code.
8. WiFi vs. Mobile Data: She struggled to differentiate between WiFi and mobile data, resulting in connectivity issues during travel. Her phone’s misconfigured roaming settings compounded her frustration.
9. Dual Email Accounts: Using both iCloud and a POP-based email provider led to unnecessary complexity. She felt compelled to manage both accounts without understanding their distinct purposes.
10. Outdated Email Protocols: The POP protocol of her provider caused discrepancies between her inbox on mobile and PC, leaving her confused about missing or misplaced emails.
11. A Prime Scam Target: Her actions and lack of technical understanding left her susceptible to scams and potentially devastating breaches of personal data.

Tech Companies and the Elderly — A Predatory Relationship?

It is disheartening to see how tech companies, through a combination of poorly designed interfaces, aggressive marketing, and minimal safeguards, prey on elderly individuals like the 96-year-old in this account. Platforms like Temu use addictive gamification to exploit the elderly’s limited digital literacy, creating the illusion of massive discounts while encouraging compulsive spending. Scammers have mastered mimicking legitimate platforms like PayPal, manipulating trust to extract sensitive information.

Email providers and app developers also bear responsibility. Small, outdated email providers fail to provide essential spam filtering, exposing users to a torrent of phishing attempts. Modern apps, meant to streamline processes, often lack accessibility features or fail to account for the elderly’s unique needs.

This relentless exploitation of older adults highlights a systemic issue: the digital world is not designed with the elderly in mind. Instead, it prioritizes profit over protection, leaving vulnerable populations defenseless against scams and exploitation.

Pro Tips for Protecting Elderly Family Members

1. Switch to Robust Email Providers: Help them migrate to a modern email service like Gmail, which offers effective spam filtering and user-friendly interfaces.
2. Enable Scam Safeguards: Set up scam and phishing protections on their devices, including browser extensions and email filters.
3. Limit Engagement with Predatory Apps: Monitor app usage and discourage interaction with platforms that use aggressive or gamified marketing.
4. Simplify Digital Access: Consolidate accounts and minimize unnecessary services. For example, choose one reliable email provider and one secure storage option.
5. Educate on Basic Cybersecurity: Teach them to verify links, recognize phishing attempts, and use two-factor authentication properly.
6. Configure Devices for Simplicity: Adjust settings to minimize confusion, like enabling large text, voice assistance, and secure autofill options for passwords.
7. Monitor Activity Periodically: Regularly check their devices to identify vulnerabilities, scam attempts, or other issues they may not recognize.

By taking proactive steps and advocating for user-friendly technology, we can help safeguard the elderly from the predatory practices that pervade the digital world.