Donna Nettleton has encountered a different reaction at the Oasis Institute in Shiloh, Ill., where she volunteers to teach older people about digital devices.

Her students take happily to Facebook, but “Uber and Lyft are scarier because they involve money,” she explained. Older adults, warned continually about scams and identity theft, fear that misusing an app could empty their bank accounts.

“It’s challenging to build the confidence they need to actually use these things that could make life easier for them,” Ms. Nettleton said. So far, she’s been unable to convert any of her advisees — including her 80-year-old mother — into riders.

More than half of adults over 65 own smartphones, the Pew Research Center has reported. Yet among adults 50 and older, only about a quarter used ride-hailing services in 2018 (a leap, however, from 7 percent in 2015). By comparison, half of those aged 18 to 29 had used them.

In a survey by AARP last year, only 29 percent of those over 50 had used ride-hailing apps. Two-thirds said they weren’t likely to do so in the coming year, citing in part concerns about safety and privacy. (Given data breaches at Uber, that’s no baseless fear.)