At the Monkey Bar help Desk we get all sorts of technical problems. While many people we judge them because they don’t understand tech ,, we actually don’t. We understand that tech can be confusing. Passwords and security is one of those things that can be daunting. Especially for those who are terrified that they will do something wrong. We hear it all..

• I can’t remember passwords
• I never know what to put down
• Do I need one Capital and three numbers ?
• I like to use the same password for everything why do I keep getting hacked?

You are not ment to remember your password… only know where to look it up

Only people who are not tech savvy try to force their brains to remember a password! I can’t remember passwords! It will never happen. I have ADHD and Dyslexia so the concept of trying to memorize 200 different passwords is setting myself up for failure. So I don’t even try.

If our brains had the ability to remember phone numbers business cards would not exist. Someone would just say their name and phone number and you would never need to ask again. Be honest most people need that business card just to remember the persons name not alone their phone number.

So how do you remember all these passwords… you don’t … I don’t.

Low Tech solutions

Writing everything down is a good idea. The trick is to make sure you write clearly so there is no way anyone can mistake your hand writing especially you!

When writing password make sure that you underline the capital letters. This way it is always clear if its a zero, Capital O or a lower case o.

Write your user name clearly. Msot of the time this is your email address but sometimes it can be something different.

put a date next to where you write your password so you can tell the last time you updated your password.

Don’t carry your passwords with you in your wallet .. I know you want to but if your wallet ever gets stolen the thief can take a whole lot more than just a few credit cards and cash. They can take everything you own.

Password managers

Every senior I have ever worked with has a tiny panic attack when using a password manager for the first time. But Imagine never having to come up with a password, never having to forget a password… sounds nice!

Bitwarden is one of the password managers I recommend its free and works on most devices .

Mistakes Seniors make with passwords

I have this conversation every day! Seniors and people who are not tech savvy tend to get confused by when or how to use passwords. Here are the most common mistakes made by seniors.

Using the same password for everything.

Imagine you have a house, car, business and safe deposit box but they all have the same key. Now Imagine your keyring breaks and you are not sure where some of you keys are after a day of walking around down town. Anyone who picks up one of those keys can take your car, break into your home and take all your money with ease. This is why having different passwords for every account is important.

Confusing Computer passwords with Facebook or mail passwords

This one is also frustrating for seniors when it comes to passwords. The password for your email, Facebook and getting into your computer should all be different. And yes this does mean that you do need to have a little bit of memory at least to get into your computer. When a computer asks for your password is is normally clear about what password it wants.

Wanting to buy a new computer because you forgot your password.

I had a customer come in and she wanted to buy two new computer a phone and an iPad because she did not remember her password for her email . While this would have been a very good sales for us we refused. We refused because this would not fix her problem. There was nothing wrong with any of her devices (They were older models but still working correctly … upgrading sure but not replacing to fix that problem )

if we sold her 1000 computers she would have the same problem on every computer because the problem is with the account not the device.

Assuming Resetting your password is technical

For the people who use the computer it is easy… for those who are running the email system … that is hard. Their job is to make sure you can get into your email but nobody else.

Resetting your password is a pain in the butt but it is not technical. There is no computer knowledge needed except for reading the instructions on the screen. No really I mean it .. I is that easy.

Trying to pay a tech to solve all the PASSWORD problems

Continuing on the topicc that it is not a technical problem, hiring a tech to solve it will not fix the problem. As a tech we charge by the hour. Resetting passwords or reclaiming accounts is not a technical issue and the only person who should recover the account is you. We say that because there are questions that only you can answer.

We should not know your password. we should not have access to all your accounts. It is a bad idea. Not just for you but for us. The number of times we get accused of “Hacking” someone’s computer because we replaced a battery on their phone two years ago is far too common. (Even when we never had the password to their phone in the first place) While you may trust us .. and we thank you for that trust . Part of that earned trust is telling you that you should never trust anyone with your account information.

In addition to the whole trust aspect… You should learn how to do it yourself! WE are all about empowering people to learn. Having a tech do it for you for $150 an hour will end up costing you a lot of money AND you will need to do it again the next time there is a problem.

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