Caregiver asked for my WiFi password. Why would she ask if she is watching my parents and isn't this a security concern?

If you trust this person enough to leave your parents alone with her/him for long periods of time, are you really concerned about their integrity?

I'm kinda stunned reading the responses, if she is trust worthy with their very lives don't you think you can trust her with a guest password on your Wi-Fi network?

If she works hard and does a good job caring for your parents and you are uncomfortable giving her access to your network, why not ask her how much it would cost her monthly for unlimited data and give her a cash bonus that would cover the expense monthly. Happy you, happy caregiver, happy parents. Not all people can afford unlimited plans, especially minimum wage workers, like caregivers. 

Sorry, I am really hung up about not trusting caregivers, that have proven themselves, with your WiFi but they are trusted with human beings well being and lives. Think about this, all posters. Could this view point be behind how hard it is to find good care for our LOs?

Hi...I am a caregiver who Does not have password... i dont want to play games.. no
But What I do have is a cellphone contract that has betty little ALLOWED DATA USE.
Unless I'm on someone,/anyone's WI-FI.
IT just helps if my phone is able to roam on over tip any wifi possible that's free... it autre doesn't mean you have a HACKER I your home. No no.

The lady n I frequently look up things on my phone also.. now
How to handle this!!
Listen ( ) I was just curious,

are you unable to connect your phone at My home? Or is it your data plan is very limited?

I sure don't want any games being played w. A chuckle
Good luck
I am bout to ask for password myself. My data plan is not unlimited

If you trust the caregiver to be in the home providing care to your LO, then asking for a WIFI password is a normal thing. When I have visitors in my home, giving the WIFI password is a normal thing so they can access the internet.

Is it safe to assume that this caregiver doesn't live with you, but is there only during the day when you're at work? Did you ask the caregiver why she wants your WiFi password and what and when she intends to use HER computer or smartphone/iPhone to access the Internet? I'm assuming that since she only asked for your WiFi password she'd be using her own laptop or smartphone/iPhone. If you're not feeling comfortable with her having your WiFi password, can you set up a guest WiFi password for her? Whether the caregiver is live-in or just comes to your house during the day, the most important thing to make sure of is that she's not neglecting your parents for the Internet (ie, spending time on her laptop or phone when your parents are awake). 

In terms of the principle of the thing--- ie her main job being as a caregiver and her wanting to spend time online on the Internet: How much down time does this caregiver have when your parents are napping? And, do you have a way to ensure that she's not going to be on her laptop or phone when your parents are up and about and she should be focusing on them? Does she need to be online to check out possible activities in your area that she would want to take your parents to/accompany them to with the purpose of getting them out of the house and keeping them mentally engaged? If you want the caregiver taking your parents to some activities in your community, then allowing her to get on the Internet to check out what's available can be an advantage and save you the time of having to search for these activities yourself.  Also, during your parents nap time, this is also the caregivers chance to rest and regroup since caregiving can be physically and mentally demanding. So, instead of having her look at the 4 walls or only be able to watch TV, which she may not want to do, having access to the Internet on her laptop or phone could be a relaxing downtime activity for her to renew and refresh herself ONLY while your parents are napping.  

One caveat here: Even though you say she's nice, I wouldn't be that trusting to simply take her word that she would only be using her laptop or smartphone/iPhone while your parents are asleep. I speak from experience here. My mom (now deceased) had one-on-one caregivers in her apartment. They were all nice people, but with Internet access in my mom's apartment,  the caregivers would plunk my mom down in front of the TV during her waking hours, when they should have been engaging with and focusing on her/her needs or taking her on planned outings, and then spent almost that entire time during their shifts on their cellphones surfing the web or doing emails, instead of caring for my mom. That would have been fine for them to do when my mom was asleep or resting. But, that's not what happened-- they were on their phones when my mom was awake and up and about.  My mom would end up sitting in front of the TV for several hours while the caregivers were focused on their phones instead of on her. I don't live in the same state my mom lived in, so couldn't be there everyday to monitor things, and I didn't have a web cam to monitor what was going on in her apartment. But, my mom's care manager caught the caregivers doing this while my mom was awake, and I also witnessed this when I was visiting my mom. And even after speaking with the caregivers about this, without having a way to monitor them via a webcam or other type of camera every minute of the time they were with my mom, they continued focusing on being on their phones when my mom was awake and up and about, sometimes even neglecting to realize that my mom needed a diaper change (and, my mom had problems with very frequent UTIs). As a result, we ended up having to let several of the caregivers go.  About the only way you could ensure that the caregiver isn't neglecting your parents for the computer or smartphone is for you to have a monitoring camera/webcam in your home that you can access remotely from work to check to make sure that everything at home is going ok while you're not there and that the caregiver is attending to your parents when they're awake, rather than neglecting them because she's on her equipment and on the Internet.

In terms of the one response in this thread about the caregiver vacuuming and doing light housework while the parents were resting: If that has been stipulated as part of the caregiver's duties in your contract with her, then she should be using her down time to do light housekeeping or to wash dishes. But, if you've hired her ONLY to take care of your parents, I don't think it's appropriate for her to do anything other than wash dishes or put dishes in the dishwasher from meals that she has served your parents. 

Having your wifi password would let her access the internet on HER smart phone or i-Pad.

Unless you use your WiFi password each time to get on-line, she can already use your computer - which, obviously is not what she's asking for. She would NOT have access to any of your files that you use a password for, unless you leave them open.

It's a good idea to close your email account when not using it - just because there are hackers scanning thousands of hours of thousands of accounts. If you're not a billionaire and have no access to any corporate secrets, you're a very unlikely target, but there is a wee chance. Of course never leave your bank accounts open online.

I don't claim to be an expert, but have been using email since 1985 (and yes, that's before the Internet), and quite a few various kinds of programs. When I have a problem I can't find an answer for online, I ask my son (whose work is advising companies what programs they need and how to use them). But for security issues - or any odd glitch - ask a kid! Most children have been on-line since they were three.

WHEN YOU HAVE A COMPUTER QUESTION, ASK A TEENAGER.

I worked for a care agency. They specifically said not to be on the internet, especially social media. It looks bad if the carer is posting about being bored, or at work, taking selfies etc. I don't do social media so it didn't bother me in the least.
Carers do housework, and anything the family wants. Have her make some crock pot meals that can be frozen, or dinner, laundry, or any housekeeping. She won't be bored or need a password. She will be busy! Personally I wouldn't dare ask for someone's password. It is their home and their WiFi.
Maybe she is a college student and you wouldnt mind if she does homework, then it's up to you. Good luck.

I would never deny my wifi to a person that I allowed into my home. It's a courtesy. My computers require a pin to get into and all sensitive information on them are secured by layers of multifactorauthorizations required by my software.
If it were someone I didn't trust, they wouldn't be in my home.
As far as her surfing the net instead of working, maybe she just wants to play some tunes. I do while I'm working.

part 2. My mom does not have access to a phone ( she has dementia, misdials and calls all hours of the night and day). She has a caregiver with an unlimited plan that will call her sisters for her and let her talk. A godsend.

At my parents' home we have wifi because the Internet package was cheaper with phone and cable. Over a year ago one of our caregivers asked for the password. I wasn't as much worried about security as I was her sitting there playing games and I wasn't as much worried about security as I was her sitting there playing on Facebook. Laundry was one of her duties and my mother would help her fold. I went there every night to give my mother a pill and get her settled for the night. There would be times laundry would still be in the washer or would still be in the dryer. I let her go after 11 mos. In the beginning she was great. Over time she had gotten a little lazy, could not handle remarks my mother(a person with Alzheimer's) would say, had called off 19 times in 154 days and was not being very nice to me.

The caregiver probably has her own electronic device, however your password only works in your house. It only allows access to the internet, not your accounts, etc. No harm. When my grand kids come to visit, I have it taped on the side of the remote so they can just look and enter, don't even have to ask.

No. She does not need your password. What she does with her time is part of the job. You are not responsible for entertaining her/him.

I don't see a lot of harm in someone checking on an important email once in a while, but it seems that many people, especially those under the age of 30, don't have a lot of restraint in that regard. So it's a slippery slope to go down.
How long is her shift? Is it 4 hours or 14 hours? That should weigh in as well.
If her shifts are short, I'd look at this way: Your home isn't a cafe or hotel where she is paying YOU or BUYING something from you ( a room, a meal, a $5 cup of coffee) and so is given wifi as an incentive to choose your cafe/hotel/etc....
You/we are paying THEM. Caregiver companies charge $15-$30/hour, which is too much money to pay for someone to surf the web. That's not saying that's all they will do, but let's face it, texting and selfies and web-surfing have too often taken over and caused slacking off in many workplaces, as well as causing great dangers on the roads because people can't seem to tear themselves away from looking at their texts, emails, and social media.
At my Mom's rehab facility, the staff are not allowed to have their phones with them at any time unless they are on break in the breakroom.
Personally, I would never go into anyone's home and ask them to provide me with wifi any more than I would ask them to provide me with lunch or cable tv. If they offered it, that would be different. But it really doesn't set well with me for an employee to ask me to provide entertainment for them to make their job more fun or interesting.
My bf's daughter was on movie sets in Atlanta that took everyone's phones when they checked in for the day and were without them for the duration of filming that day, which could be as long as 16 hours a day with a LOT of downtime. They'd return the phones to them at mealtimes, if they wanted to stand in line with 100 other extras.
Jobs aren't about being comfortable or having fun, or checking in on social media. That doesn't make you a slave driver, unless, of course, her shifts are long.
I think I"d take it up with her boss and ask them how to handle it. Let them know you're pleased with her care otherwise and just see what they say. This isn't the first time they've had this question, I"m sure. :)

My response is to the poster that suggested the caregiver "take on more responsibilities" because there is a lot of down time. What was the agreement when the caregiver was hired? If their job is to take care of your parents, that means that they are not responsible for cleaning the house, cooking, doing laundry, etc. If you want the caregiver to "take on more responsibilities", you also should be prepared to "take on more expense", as doing things like cleaning the house, cooking, doing laundry certainly require paying more for those services.

With regard to the Wi-Fi issue, the only thing giving the caregiver the password does is allow them to use your wireless internet access so they can access & use their own applications---they cannot access your own personal applications on your computer, tablet, cell phone, etc. There is nothing to worry about by allowing the caregiver to utilize your wi-fi with respect to security.

Don't create a problem when there is none.

Forgive me if someone has already answered this.....tell her you will be happy toput it in her phone for her. That way when she comes over to the house she can get on line but she doesn’t know your password. It will come up automatically in your house and she can do what she needs to do. Just like in a hotel, you have to access their WiFi in the room. When you join another WiFi business or home it will automatically let you in without putting in the password every time. I too would want to be able to get emails or relax if I had some downtime but not when I was supposed to be doing something. Hope this helps. God Bless

Don't do it. Case in point. Son has visitor's over. They used my internet to use their computers inside my house. Child protection services show up at my house and take all my computers, looking for child porn. I got my computer and disks back as all they found were photo's of my grandkids and all the music I had was legal down loads (they didn't really care about the music, just surprised I paid for it) as they were just looking for the porn. The damage was the fact it got on the news. It was in the newspaper, on TV and on the radio. And when they found out it wasn't us they didn't bother to put it out there so people thought we were real nasty folks. They did catch the guy who had the porn as they traced him through his own computer. Not something I want to ever go through again. No one is allowed to use my wifi and never ever my computer.

Whatever you do, don't give it to her!

Wow! Eight pages of responses to this question! And they contradict each other.

Back in the very olden days, when phones were physically attached to jacks I would often be in a business and ask, "how to a get an outside line?" and I would be told "just dial 9 and wait for the dialtone" or "dial 50 first" or whatever the code was on their system. Businesses typically blocked long-distance calls unless you had another access code. Knowing how to access an outside line gave me access to absolutely nothing except a dialtone to dial out.

I've regarded the wifi password as simply the "dial 9" code.

Maybe that is naive. I am going to ask my son who is a professional techie and very security conscious.

I would not let just anyone use my computer. But the internet access code? Help yourself.

On a separate issue raised in this thread, don't expect in-home-help to do extra work without extra pay!

Our contract specifically said that the PCA was not to do additional household chores. She could give my husband breakfast, but not make a crockpot meal for our supper, for example.

Our PCA was an absolute gem. She liked to keep busy, and as my husband became less and less active she was restless. She used her cell phone a lot when he was sleeping. She never asked for the wifi password, but I would have given it to her if either of us had thought of it.

I did give her other optional tasks. (Shame on me.) The one I remember is organizing the linen closet. I asked if she'd like to do that, said I knew that it was outside the scope of her duties, and if she didn't want to do it I would certainly not hold it against her. It was the kind of task one could easily leave in the middle when the client woke up. She was very eager to do this. She did an amazing job! In a few days she had the shelves organized and neat. (Now, six years later, I wish I could get her back to do it again!)

My mother and my husband, both with dementia, liked tasks that they viewed as useful, and weren't too enthusiastic about make-work tasks just to keep them busy. I think most of us like to think we are doing useful activities. Our PCA considered organizing the linen closet more useful than playing games on her smart phone.

So I am sympathetic to those who want their paid help to be busy with useful tasks most of time, or at least some of the downtime. I think it is important not to exploit the help or to take for granted they should do more than their contract calls for. But I also think it is OK to help them feel useful if that is what they want.

My current caregiver asked the same thing the first week. My response was, “I am not comfortable sharing private information as such”. End of story...end of song. Especially knowing your live in boyfriend is extremely techy and builds systems.

I vote "No". Why would she need it. I wonder if some friend/relative asked her to get it. If she has time on her hands maybe she could do some chores.

BetseyP

I used the Internet to look up new med. side effects, answer questions my two wards had, learn information on ways to deal with problems that came up with them, even recipes, for new things to make them to eat. So I think it will be of benefit to them. I did use it myself to entertain when they wanted to watch something on TV I did'nt care for, I also used it to show them pictures that there families sent, and keep them updated. So yes give the care giver access it will be of great benafit to all.

When at someone else's home I just ask them to put in the password for the wi fi. Then you don't have to give it to them and they will automatically be connected when at your house. Should be no problems that way. Just make sure your personal computer(s) are locked when you are not home.

As long as it's not a password you use for anything important I don't see the big issue. She can't use it once she leaves you home. And as long as she is getting her duties done ...

One, your WiFi password should be the only time that password is used. Do not use the same password for multiple anything. I didn't know you could have a guest WiFi set up. If/when I have caregivers I will ask my provider if that service is available.


I do not think it is fair to have a caregiver start dusting, doing laundry, or anything else. A contract should have been signed stating what the duties are. Believe it or not, in a lot of areas housekeepers make more money than caregivers. I used to clean houses and one of things that used to make me boil was I contracted to do certain chores. Then, in a month or so, the homeowner would try to add cleaning windows or doing personal laundry. For the same amount of money of course. More than what I contracted for. I quit a couple of jobs because of that.

pretty much means she wants to get on board your internet and text, shop, email, etc. I would feel a little iffy about that as well. Just had to let a caregiver go who thought it was ok to sit in another room with the television on full blast, eat all my food and have her friends and family come visit. Did you ask her ?

I have a different perspective. I hired a caregiver who would be on her phone during breakfast or while "watching tv" with my dad. He would be talking to her, asking a question, and would get no response. I'm not paying her to be on her phone and ignore my dad. So, I wouldn't give her my wifi password. If I had a job I'd only use my phone during breaks. My caregiver only worked 2 hr shifts (each at b, l and dinner). Just my 2 cents. And yes, they advertised "light housekeeping" so I expected that too.

Wow, this struck a nerve. I only read response through page 6.
My CGs have use of my Wi-Fi. They have even looked up info for me. No one in this area expects them to be on their feet working at all times. Besides being a companion, and letting me have time out of the home, they do some light housework, like cleaning my aunt's bathroom, changing her sheets, making her lunch, vacuuming the area she uses. This helps me, but I really want them to assure her safety. She has fallen, and now she's doing some odd things that probably come from the dementia. One CG also drives her to get her hair done (that got her out of the house so I could clean my oven, and air the home.) Driving and cleaning cost extra.

If my aunt is napping, I expect CG to be awake and alert enough to respond. If she reads or checks emails, no problem.

How about setting up a guest Wifi password?

I’ve seen a lot of answers each way. The least correct werevthe worries about liability indemnification. For gosh sakes, walk out in your yard and you will be able to access two or three stray wifi networks. Ditto any Starbucks, public library and in some cities even open public spaces. I can assure you there are no liability issues for you.
From experience, good, loving caretakers are to be cherished. They are much more than just an employee. They are the person with whom you are entrusting the well being of your loved one.
I take care of my wife and use the internet to check on meds, nutrition, and often just stuff that interests me such as home building, garden plans, etc.
I would go nuts if my only outlet was the inane stuff on daytime TV.
The wifi access will not allow her to access your computer, only those things that interest her from her smart phone or tablet.
We live in a whole new world and she is worth keeping them by al means input the password for her. Once she has connected one time her device will “remember “ your wifi while in your house or
patio.

Why dont you connect her up to your wifi then she has it but cant do anything bad with it, by giving it to mates who can sit outside in their cars and drain it. I never use all my gerbils [GBs] so happy to share as it only goes about 100yards outside and I live rurally. I dont know how but it seems one can check how much data is being used so say fine but only for this and that, no games or netflix or whatever drains data usage, I think wifi is a bit like asking if they can charge their battery on cell phone whilst working etc these days and not like something really spooky