Ask HN: How are you managing aging relatives passwords?

Posted by rylando 1 day ago

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Looking for how or what services others use to manage their aging relatives passwords? Is 1Password still the choice?

Comments

Comment by boltguo 8 hours ago

I primarily use the built-in password manager on my iPhone. It’s very convenient; besides storing passwords, it allows for quick autofill when logging in and supports passkeys and 2FA.

Comment by tim333 8 hours ago

I encourage mum to use the built in one in Chrome as that tends to pop up anyway. I tried setting up Bitwarden but it didn't get used.

Comment by sendhello 1 day ago

I think so 1password works fine. They find it easier. I have few who even keep a diary with password of few websites they use. They just don't trust digital haha

Comment by toast0 1 day ago

Write it down in the book:

https://www.amazon.com/What-Fuck-Password-Other-Remember/dp/...

Keep the book in the office by the laptop.

Comment by cjs_ac 23 hours ago

My grandparents did this, but didn’t realise that it would be useful to write down what each password was for. They also didn’t realise that the spelling of a password was important.

I don’t even…

Comment by toast0 22 hours ago

lol well yeah. This book has fields for website, and A-Z legends, so presumably you put your Amazon password in the A section, and your hacker news password in the H section, and it's useful.

But I've been helping my MIL with some tech stuff lately. She signed up for Verizon 5G home internet, and cancelled her whole Comcast/Xfinity account. And was then surprised to find she wouldn't have cable TV anymore. :P

Also, Verizon coverage in her unit is terrible which she should know because she has them for her cell phone. But I guess she never realized that the internet was good at home because of the wifi from cable. sigh

Comment by verdverm 1 day ago

I recommend they get a physical key (yubikey), it's more intuitive or natural for the pre-digital-first generations

Comment by aristofun 18 hours ago

Can you use yubikey as a primary login mechanism? How?

Otherwise having same password on every service doesn’t look secure, and what would you need to do if it’s compromised.

Comment by rylando 1 day ago

What a great idea! I never would’ve thought of a Yubikey for this

Comment by toomuchtodo 1 day ago

Recommend two, one for them, one for you. Add both to all accounts. Upon death, you won't have to search for theirs.

Comment by verdverm 1 day ago

good call on the two, I actually have two personally, one for primary email, one for all the other logins, so now we are at four keys

Comment by toomuchtodo 1 day ago

Passkeys are also fine imho, I use Apple Passwords and share passkeys with various groups (partner, immediate family, extended family) for various systems, depending on access audience.

Also, consider a legacy contact if you're in the Apple ecosystem. For those who rely on me as an unofficial trustee and guardian, I have them add me as their legacy contact, and I then print out multiple copies of the legacy contact key page, laminate it, and distribute it physically (it's a one page QR code with some details on it). It can also be bound between Apple accounts. A death certificate will be required to access a legacy contact.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102631

https://support.apple.com/en-us/103128

Comment by verdverm 1 day ago

I refuse to use any biometric based auth, so passkeys are a nope for me

laminated physical backup codes, you are a hero among peasants friend!

Comment by Jtsummers 1 day ago

You don't need biometric authentication for passkeys, though.

Comment by verdverm 1 day ago

every prompt to set it up indicates otherwise, they really really want you to set up biometric auth, however the gov't can make you provide biometric unlock, whereas they cannot compel a password or real "passkey" (pin)

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Comment by bravilogy 1 day ago

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