Once upon a time, I was helping my then-75 year old father set up his e-mail account (over the phone). Yes, it was AOL.
So I explain he and Mom can have individual screenames, and individual passwords. I jokingly tell him to keep his password a secret from everybody, including Mom.
Well! You would have thought I’d suggested celebrating the new computer purchase with hookers and crack. Not only was the password shared, but neither would dream of going online without checking each other’s e-mail, this being totally expected and approved of by each other.
So did my parents live together too many years?(36 until Dad’s death). Do you and your spouse/SO share passwords? Check each other’s e-mail (knowingly, that is!) Or would you consider it an invasion of privacy?
Well, my girlfriend knows my password and I know hers, but then again, I was around when she got her new account so I stood there as she told the lady over the phone what password she wanted. She has mine because occassionally, her old NetZero account would refuse to work and so I’d let her use my account to check her mail (Hotmail).
We don’t touch each other’s mail though. Mine is through a POP server and it’d be amazingly obvious if new mail magically showed up in my account. I don’t know her Hotmail password.
On the other hand, I doubt she wants to read my listservs and I know I don’t want to read her mountains of “newsletters” (I call them spam) from Gameworld.com, IGN.com and whatever else she subscribes to.
I’ve gone about 4 years now sharing an email account (primary one for both of us) with my business partner. She’s seen a few doper emails, and I see what she’s getting. Two of my sisters-in-law and one of my nieces send me lots of (often ribald) jokes and, although they don’t know my partner, whenever we split the email account sheets, I’m going to recommend they keep her on their circulation lists (she enjoys’em more than I do - must be a gal thing).
It really hasn’t been a problem, despite both of us receiving a few rather personal emails. I think it depends a lot on the relationship of the people involved.
My BF and I have an AOL account where we have separate screennames, but our passwords are held so we don’t have to type it each time–so we could go onto each other’s accounts if we wished… but we don’t.
Sometimes he looks over my shoulder while I’m on the computer, just as I do to him… but, I don’t have a need to “check up on him”.
Not only do Mrs. Kunilou and I have the same account and password, but we gave the kids all the same password so everyone can check anyone’s mail. We also taught them the same rule you have at work – if you don’t want anyone else to read it, don’t put it in writing.
Of course, the missus and I have separate work accounts, so if we want to plan a surprise party or something like that, we can always do it from the office.
Brian and I know one another’s passwords. Hell, I was the one who changed his password during the whole hacker incident. He just sat on the bed and told me what he wanted it changed to.
We don’t actually USE them, though. At least, not anymore. He learned that one the hard way. I would never dream of going into any of his personal online things for any reason other than emergencies.
Hmm, so Mr. Ed can’t see this, huh? Edwarina, I’d love to meet you in a hotel room and … What? She said “e-mail”?! Ya mean Mr. Ed can read this? Ackk, err, hmm, I’d like to meet you in a hotel room and sell you Tupperware products.
Sua
And we do often ask each other to check if we have any email, because we work together. Of course we don’t often read anything from each other’s friends, but it’s no big deal if we do.
Just like in the olden days, everything private comes by real mail or phone, so of course we all know when messages arrive and who from.
I don’t know my wife’s password, and she doesn’t know mine. Not that we have been trying to keep them secret from each other, it’s just worked out that way. She has her own system, I have my system, we’re both hooked up to DSL, and that’s just the way it is.
Am I worried about stuff she might be getting that I don’t know about? No. If I ever felt she was hiding something from me, we’d have more problems than just not knowing each other’s passwords.
I trust her, she trusts me. I tell her everything, she does the same.
Yeah, I do. She usually calls back saying I never gave it to her because it’s mysteriously not on the puter no more.
I have to give it through the phone. Can you imagine? I gave it to her four times on the phone one time & she said she didnt get it. Cause when they are like say, ‘8way(@’ how are you going to get THAT to someone on the phone by saying it?
I’d say it’s an issue of trust and how protective you are of your space. Originally, I was very resistant to (now ex) GF knowing my password. Since then, have actuallt given it to her cause the computer I was on wouldn’t work so I couldn’t check mail. She’s also given me hers, although I think she’s forgotten about this and doesn’t realize I know it. Of course, she guessed my ATM PIN on the first try, so…
I work as a network consultant and network security is a pet peeve of mine! I do not know my wife’s password and she does not know mine. We have some communal passwords for things we share responsibilites for (our domain for example, or our business email) in much the same way that we share house and vehicle keys.
I even lock my Win2K server and my NT workstation when I am not on them even though she is the only person who could access them.
Then again, half the time it’s the child fixing the setup (at least for those with no idea how to handle a computer). For the rest of us…true enough, but then again, there’s no telling what I’ll do to my CPU when it’s 4 in the morning and my brain ain’t quite workin’ right.
