If you think that
Facebook or email password of yours is safe in the hands of your friends, families, significant others, hermit crabs, etc. -- a recent poll on Internet Evolution suggests you may be naive.
In response to the question, "Have you ever logged into someone's email or social networking account without his or her knowledge?" here's what our sneaky readers said:
Sure. By a slim margin, the majority of nearly 300 readers who weighed in vow to never have committed such an act. But that still leaves a whopping 42 percent who readily admit to it -- and this is coming from an educated tech-readership, not a band of merry thieves (or so we thought...).
Well, so what. Maybe you just needed to see who your significant other was poking on Facebook. Or maybe you were just plain curious and bored with your own digital life. Besides, it's not like anything on the Internet is private anyway.
It seems clear that it's ethically wrong to sign into someone's account without permission (I'm certain our Internet Ethicist would concur) -- whether that person haphazardly left the password lying around on a Post-It, or entrusted it to you for some ungodly reason. But our poll suggests that, when it comes to matters of the Internet, sometimes ethics go out the window in favor of acts of ease that appear harmless.
But, you tell us: Is logging into someone else's account without permission always ethically wrong, or does it depend on the circumstance?
Regardless of your answer, you may want to consider changing that password.
Stupid is as stupid does. Writing down your password anywhere is stupid. Writing down your password on a Post-It is stupidest (I have no sympathy for numb nuts who do that); sharing your password is stoope-id. That’s an invitation for trouble like leaving your doors unlocked or your windows open or your purse/wallet out in the open. Using a personal name, pet name, phone number, street address, birth date in your password is stewpid, not using an alpha-numeric password is stoopit (I’m running out of ways expounding on “stupid”). Not only should you change that password, you should change it regularly and use a strong (alpha numeric & case sensitive where possible) password too.
We have all this security with computers and software, encryption, passwords for BIOS’s, HDDs, logon accounts for PCs, LAN accounts, web accounts, applications, Zip files etc…all made absolutely useless by loose lips, stupidity, carelessness and laziness. Memorize that password! Do not share it. Make it a phrase that you can easily remember like: 0Bama$0x3gg$! (Obama sucks eggs!).
The best thing will be to change one's password as often as possible. But we use to forget the lesson and we can be using the same password for years. For the sites that require to submit your email address and your password, I don't think that you have to submit your real password with that e-mail address.
Question? What should be the email accounts policy between spouses?
Absolutely, logging into someone else's account without permission is always ethically wrong, no matter what the circumstances are, period.
It's like going through someone else's stuff in their private draws or your friend's purse/wallet without telling her/him or reading someone's private letters or going through their phone sms inbox.. Of course, it's unethical to do so without that someone's knowledge.
I also want to add that I don't really like or trust the way some social networking sites ask new users, upon registeration, to submit their email address and password in order to have access to their email contact list and send out invitation to their friends to join up. They make it looks like it's part of the signing-up process and the "Skip" button's usually small and not easy to find. Of course, they'll say that they'll not disclose or store the info, but how much can we trust? Once you submit your password, it's already out there and vulnerable to attacks. I saw a lot of auto-generated invitations to sign up for some social networking sites that I received from many people I know who didn't think twice of submitting their email address and password. The best way is to just try to find that "Skip" button and never allow sites to access your email contact list for invitation and only invite your friends manually.
Also, yes I agree with Nicole, it's as easy as changing your account password every now and then to make sure your account and private info is safe. Having said that, I'd better go ahead and change my gmail password... haven't done that for a while :)
I believe that logging into someone else's account without permission is always ethically wrong without exceptions. But for those who dont value thier own personal space might be this is not different from what they expect.
I guess another survey is required to establish the fact that how many people thought(honestly) while giving away thier passwords that it will not be misused.
BBC news published a survey on 20th april,2004. It was amazing to see how easily people can give out thier information. The most intersting thing was More than 70% of people would reveal their computer password in exchange for a bar of chocolate, a survey has found. It is an interesting report. Have a look here. But there are some people that really take thier passwords to grave.
Yes, unlike Run As and upgrading software, logging in as someone else to a web present site allows your views and opinions to take on a more global impact.
I have not personally done that, but I have seen the impact through my friends and some of the children in their family 'sharing' passwords amongst themselves and their own friends. Between simple 'Myspace' defacement and outright and blatant reading of anothers emails, there is a lot to be said about just keeping your password to yourself, oh, yeah, that and picking a random password, not something as simple as a birthday or kids name that anyone can figure out (password policy is another sore IT subject for personal and business everywhere).
It may seem amusing, but I've heard of simple jokes to marriage breakdowns as consequences of password sharing, it really is no joke. Also another reason to use theFirefox option of "Never for this site" in remembering passwords when you type them in. Store them in the one place inaccessible to hackers, your head .......... unless you're naive or a little easy to hack through social networking that is.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
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