Teens Share Passwords as Part of Friendships, Relationships

Passwords are guarded closely by some younger Internet users, but one-third of teens surveyed admitting to sharing passwords with a friend or significant other, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

Girls are more likely than boys to share their passwords, and older teens ages 14-17 are more likely to share their security codes than younger ones. According to the survey, more than half of teenage girls ages 14-17 admitted they share passwords.

Teens who use Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites are more likely to share their passwords, with one-third of all teen users giving others their passwords. Only one fifth of teens report not using a social network site.

However, there was no significant variations in the teens' social media use or in their privacy restrictions, meaning that just because they share passwords, they're not necessarily sharing other private online details.

Teens share their passwords with people they trust, but they likely want to consider that the people who are their friends today might not be so friendly tomorrow, possibly putting their online reputations at stake.

For example, a Facebook conman was arrested in his parents' basement after he posted women's photos on pornographic websites after breaking into their accounts.

Timothy Noirjean, 26, said he accessed the woman's and others' accounts by friending them on Facebook, obtaining their e-mail addresses, then subtly persuading them to give him answers to their security questions. Noirjean created a new password to their account with this information and stole private photos to post on porn sites.

In other cases of Internet bullying, people using others' passwords logged onto their Facebook accounts to harass other teens. Hacked passwords have also been used to access people's financial information and for identity theft.

Teens aren't the only people who are too trusting, though. An experiment in October revealed that hackers and IT professionals often give out sensitive information -- including passwords -- when contacted by a safe-seeming person.

However, until people understand that everyone just can't be trusted, they may have to learn the hard way that while it's nice to share, passwords should be kept private to keep the online experience as safe as possible.