My latest irritation has been building for some time now. I can’t be the only one. It has to do with online passwords.
If you assume that my problem has to do with remembering which password goes with which website or app, you’d be wrong. My problem has to do with being told that my password isn’t “strong enough.” Must be 8 characters, must include a number, must include a capital letter, must include a decent recipe for biscuits… the list goes on an on.
First of all, who the heck are they (Silicon Valley) to determine how “strong” I want my password to be? If a hacker wants to break into my tiny world, shouldn’t I be the judge as to how difficult I want to make it? How does it affect Apple, for instance, if someone guesses my Apple ID and wreaks havoc? I am a responsible adult and can certainly determine whether the quality of my life dealing with complex passwords that potentially keep ME out of my sites is worth the risk of some pimply-faced computer geek messing with me and having to deal with any of those repercussions.
Because that’s really what it comes down to. It’s far more likely, FAR MORE LIKELY, that the only person who is prevented from accessing my personal info will be me, not some lurker.
Does the safety police tell me how many deadbolts I need on my front door? Of course not. Yet homes are far more likely to be burgled and what to lose is far greater.
I understand when a web form uses the visual barrier to keep bots from sending spam. It’s inconvenient to try to find each image with a “bridge” or a “bus,” for sure, but I understand the paranoia. But we’re talking about my personal space, my personal choice.
Essentially, we’re talking about freedom.
I’m surprised nobody has taken legal action yet to preserve our freedom to choose our own passwords. It’s high time.
Do you think it’s a coincidence that the passwords they want us to choose also look like F#@C126 expletives?
I have been tempted to use some of those all-in-one apps that keep your passwords in one place and only require you to remember one password. I’m not convinced that’s a great solution, though. If I reduce all of my sorta simple passwords to one master password, I would feel much more vulnerable to someone cracking the master and leaving me in shreds in one fell swoop. Worse yet, how about the employees at the all-in-one app place who will now have access to all my personal passwords?
So I put up with it, as we all do, because essentially we’re not in control of anything. That may be my new password: N0tNKonTro!. Do not take it, that’s mine! (Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have posted it publicly. You’re right, geeks, I can’t be trusted.)