There Are Right and Wrong Ways to Share Your Passwords
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While many services are tightening up on password sharing, there will still be plenty of situations where you’ll need to lend your login credentials to an app or service to someone you know: for example, you might need to share your movie library , or a co-worker might need to access your file system at work.
First, only do this when absolutely necessary and only with people you trust. The more people who have access to an account, the less secure it is. All the ways your data could be vulnerable, from data leaks to phishing, affect them as much as you.
Secondly, make sure you only share usernames and passwords in a safe and secure way. You don’t want your login information to be shared with more people than you intended, so be careful when sharing this information.
Bad Ways to Share Passwords
Don’t share passwords in a way that others can easily intercept. Writing passwords down on paper or sticky notes is strongly discouraged unless you keep them top secret and destroy them as soon as they are no longer needed. Paper slips of paper can easily be read over someone’s shoulder, put in a drawer and forgotten about, or stolen from a desk.
Screenshots of credentials aren’t a good idea either. They can be easily forwarded to other people; they can be automatically backed up to photo services (like accounts shared by others); and, like paper notes, they can easily be read by someone passing by or using a device.
When it comes to messaging apps, it’s best to stick to those that offer end-to-end encryption, which makes it much harder for anyone to understand what you’re saying. It’s best to avoid plain text emails and SMS, as well as public (or semi-public) Slack channels and apps like Facebook Messenger and Instagram (which offer some encryption, but not by default).
Giving someone your details in person or over the phone may seem like a safe way to share that information, but there are some caveats: Don’t do it in places where your conversations could easily be overheard or recorded, even if you don’t think anyone else within earshot would be interested in your accounts.
Keep in mind that a hacked account can quickly expose others. This is a reminder of why using the same password across multiple services is a bad idea: someone might be able to post as you on your favorite forum, but if you use the same password for convenience elsewhere, that unauthorized visitor can move on to social media, email, and other services.
The Right Ways to Share Passwords
When it comes to the right ways to share credentials, start with your password manager if you use one (and you should). Many of these apps, including Apple Password , have built-in features for sharing usernames and passwords, so take advantage of that if you have one.
Fully encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal are safe to trust, but be aware that messages can be forwarded or screenshotted. Ideally, send your credentials in a message that will be deleted from your history after a certain amount of time: both WhatsApp and Signal have disappearing messages, as does Snapchat, an inherently short-lived app.
If you have both a username and a password to share, you might consider using two different methods of sharing them—for example, saying one during a (personal) phone call and sending the other through a secure, encrypted messaging app.
Another option is to sign into the account yourself, on the other person’s device. This requires you to be physically in the same place, but it means the other person will never know your login details, and you can revoke access at any time (most apps and sites offer this feature, or you can simply change your password).
You should also consider whether you need to share your credentials at all. For example, cloud storage services often allow you to share files and folders via a link that can be sent to another person, and many streaming services offer family plans that allow each family member to have their own separate storage.