Monday 7 January 2013

Passwords

If there is one thing that I would assign to Room 101 it is passwords.

Go to the bank to draw money - what's your pin? Turn on iTunes - what's your password? Blogger - what's your password? Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram - what's your password? ...

We are a generation obsessed, it seems, with stealing and protecting our identities. The more complicated our lives become in terms of technological dependancy, so the more open we are to deception. To combat it, we devise ever more complicated password strategies and of course Rule #1 is NEVER use the same password on two different applications ... and #2 is to keep changing them. Many applications insist on bizarre combinations of numbers, letters, capitals and symbols.

My memory has never been great (my few lines in school plays were often delivered via the prompt off-stage) but until recently it has been reliant upon the hidden pocket book with all my passwords carefully disguised: an apple to indicate my iTunes account password ... a £ sign - the bank ... I joke of course, but I can see why there is a growing demand for "secure" app's for use on iPhones etc and in which to encrypt and store passwords from prying eyes, and yet keep them close at hand; and I of course now have one such (marvellous) app. on my iPhone.

Now what was the password to open it, again?