Checking mate
September 20, 2022•307 words
[078] ... [General], [Technology]
Some people take home security seriously. Double locks, surveillance CCTV, burglar alarm and may be something else that they know better. Depends on where you live - - more remote, more the care. But despite all the care, if someone else has a duplicate key, or the webcam occasionally or regularly transmits the content secretly elsewhere, it obviously defeats the intention.
The similarity came to mind when reading Chrome & Edge Enhanced Spellcheck Features Expose PII, Even Your Passwords . PII is supposed to be Personally Identifiable Information.
We secure our devices the same way, password, pattern, facelock or biometric lock options to unlock the phone, anti-virus, refrain from installing unknown apps and keep clearing the cache besides avoiding clicking on doubtful links. But a keyboard can become a weak link in spite of all the safe measures. One irritating but unfortunately useful feature of it on the phone is its built-in spellchecker, that often comes handy but can irritate you on autocorrecting what it thinks is right when you key-in non-dictionary terms. The spellchecker in the browser is what the write up points out to be unsafe when set to enhanced checking.
In my old tab the Checker was so intimidating, it kept correcting the password repeatedly, with my account getting blocked temporarily. So much for being helpful. I had to verify my credentials all over again, and switch over to an alternative.
Like the old joke on an uneducated, but rich owner questioning the driver on why he needs a screwdriver, we perhaps need to turn off the feature temporarily during log-ins or stay away from anything enhanced checking that needs to refer from somwhere else. Not every one needs to be a Dickens for our kind of daily input, with some not even going beyond Cool, Awesome and Great...