Ask HN: How are you managing aging relatives passwords?

3 pointsposted 4 hours ago
by rylando

Item id: 49698914

10 Comments

sendhello

4 hours 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

verdverm

4 hours ago

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

rylando

3 hours ago

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

toomuchtodo

4 hours ago

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

verdverm

4 hours 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

toomuchtodo

3 hours 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

verdverm

3 hours 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!

Jtsummers

3 hours ago

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

verdverm

3 hours 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)