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

Ali, have you read the TOS for all the sites you visit? There CAN BE liability for using sites if participation is required. Read the TOS for sites that you visit if you don't believe me.

Especially read the TOS for Microsoft sites. Read the TOS for newspaper sites with popups advising that you inherently agree to the TOS simply by reading the articles on their sites.

Thank you all for your knowledgeable responses. The caregiver has worked in my house for eight months now and this is the first time she asked to use the WiFi. During downtime she has been looking on her iPhone so I assumed she had access to the internet. That is why it was perplexing why she would ask for my password. Dorianne brings up an important point about bandwidth usage. Also I don't want to monitor someone downloading videos or music streaming. It seems that overseeing everything in the house is a huge undertaking and having to monitor what the caregiver is doing on her iPhone is just one more thing. I like to look at all sides and the reasons why. I thank you all so much for your wonderful responses!

In my area Comcast (Xfinity) has WiFi that customers can use when they are away from home. My cousin got a little box that he has for that purpose.

I agree that giving her your password could allow for illegal downloads that you could be fined for. Had this at my work. Our installer forgot to password our WiFi. On weekends someone was able to access our WiFi and download pirated movies. Comcast contacted us and gave us a certain time to PW our WiFi.

I have relatives visit and ask for my PW. I don't think its an unusual request. I would stipulate that it is only be used when her duties have been done.

When it comes to aids cleaning. Aids thru Homecare agencies that are doing physical therapiy, do not clean, do dishes, etc if there is another capable person living in the same place. They r there for the patient. For private agencies, you pay for certain duties. So the aides do what you are paying for. You hiring a private person, its up to the contract you both have agreed to.

Put this request in context: hotels, cafes, MOST organizations give out their local wi-fi password to customers. I get my brother's, my friends' passwords every time I visit them long enough to need the info. This is normal these days. She only wants to access internet... and why shouldn't she? There is no legal liability for her actions just from accessing Internet via the local wi-fi.

Whether the caregiver is allowed to use your internet access is up to you, but it doesn't give them access to your computer or any of your files. (And if they're a hacker, gaining access to your files has nothing to do with your wifi.)  That said, CM does make a good point (which I hadn't thought of), in that anything the caregiver does using your internet service could potentially become your legal responsibility - for example, if they are illegally downloading copyrighted music or videos.  Not pirating movies (or whatever) on your IP is kind of a "trust" thing with ANYONE you allow to access your wifi, including family, friends, and neighbours. 

The other thing that might matter is that the person with your wifi password is using up your bandwidth. If you have a bandwidth cap (this is the part of your plan that allows you to use 30GB or 100GB or however much data you use per month), then you have less bandwidth left for yourself and your family to use. Why this matters is that things like videos (Netflix, HBO Go, YouTube, etc.) use up a LOT of bandwidth. So theoretically, if a caregiver is using your bandwidth to watch Netflix every day, they could eat it all up pretty quickly. Once your allotted bandwidth is used up, you either have to pay extra (overage fees can be huge), or your provider will "throttle" your bandwidth, limiting your internet access altogether.  It is reasonable to ask anyone using your wifi to NOT use it for video/music streaming or downloading. 

I do give the wifi password to the respite workers, BUT....we have an unlimited internet plan (because we have internet-based TV and mom watches a lot of it), and I don't mind what they do when mom is asleep, which is most of the time the worker is here. It would be pretty boring for them otherwise, and I know phone data plans can be very expensive, compared the cost of home internet. 

tacy is correct. Your router most likely has a button on it that sends a signal to a device to allow the device to link to a Wi-Fi network without having to know the password.

I feel you may be OVERTHINKING her request for your WiFi password while she is in your home taking care of your parents. It is a 'normal' thing for caregivers to 'get on the internet' with their cell phones when they have down time and your parents maybe sleeping or watching TV etc. It's like reading a book or magazine. You were smart to ask your question.

97YearOldMom, thank you.

I wouldn't want anyone to use my computer. It already gets messed up so easily and I would probably end up having to take it to my computer man to straighten out again.

There you go. Indemnification liability.
There is the reason you have to reluctantly say no.

This is an interesting issue. I'm going to take an opposite position to the majority, and bring in the legal issues.

If you allow her to use your password, theoretically you could be responsible for actions she takes online, for sites she visits. Almost every site these day has a TOS, some of which are very onerous and create indemnification liability for the user.

Most people just ignore the issue of indemnification. The only ones I know who don't are legal or business people, who realize that an indemnification provision if activated, and if suit is involved, can bankrupt the user. When I was a contract negotiator, the indemnification provision was always the most difficult and challenging provision to negotiate.

I won't deny that it's difficult to keep a caregiver active while someone is napping or resting, but there must be something you can find for her to do - cooking and freezing meals, for example. But this really turns on the specific reasons for which she was hired.

Is this caregiver privately hired or through an agency? What were the scope of duties? I had a 3 page work scope that I gave to the agency before hiring; we reviewed it and agreed that all tasks, including housekeeping and cleaning, were w/I parameters. (Another agency wasn't hired b/c the assessment nurse rejected literally everything that I suggested, including refilling the oxygen moisturizer bottle.)

demstress, everyone needs a break every now and then. I am at work right now but here I am on the forum but can drop that quickly if need be.

My Dad had caregivers around the clock. He didn't mind them being on their smartphones or tablets as they were doing the work that was needed. Of course, my Dad was still using "dial up" for his computer so no WiFi. The caregivers realized that quickly so some bought something to add to their tablet to get the Internet.

It would bother me that she asked. Possibly without cause.
But with all the admonishment on not giving out passwords you could simply say you have been advised not to share that information.
You raise an interesting point that there is a lot of down time. Why not allow the caretaker to take on more responsibilities?
Is your caretaker through an agency? If so, there may be limits on what she is contracted to do.
While your password might allow her access to the network, I don’t think it would allow her access to your information. But I’m not an expert. That’s just my opinion.
I think I would go over whatever contract you have in place and see if I couldn’t find her acceptable activities.
I know when you have a good caregiver fit, you don’t want to rock the boat. :(. Sorry I’m not much help.

I had to read the other comments first. Caregivers, paid caregivers, are not supposed to clean your house. So cwillie's comment about vacuuming doesn't float.

Is she asking to use your computer or just your WiFi. There is a difference. I would have no qualms about giving my WiFi password (I've shared with visiting family) - but I don't allow anyone else to use my computer(s) or tablet(s).

Since I was a 24/7 caregiver for my DH - I needed the downtime with my computer/tablets or I would have gone bonkers. You can only watch them breathe just so much or go crazy.
While DH said I could watch TV while he slept, I preferred to keep the house dark & quiet for him. We both 'lived' in the living room when he was no longer able to sleep in our bed.

As long as your caregiver is ready to 'drop everything' when called, I see no problem with spending time online and unless you are extremely limited, it shouldn't affect you. If you are limited, just ask that she not download anything; say you're worried about infecting your network with viruses.

I hope my 2-cents worth helped.

That question would have made me bristle. Seems intrusive. The price you pay her includes elder care. There's not a clause in the contract for web surfing while client sleeps. I would just say it's a protected line for only those residing in the house. Of course, if she found another wifi nearby to access and check social media or get the latest news when my loved one doesn't have immediate needs, that would be OK with me. Just don't tell me, don't be obvious, and don't ask me to supply that service.

It keeps her from using her data package while she/he is in your home. And if she lives away from your neighborhood there is nothing for which she can use your password.

Having Wifi password allows her to get internet access. I don't believe she can access any of your files on your computer unless she knows how to hacks into them. I doubt she does because if she's that tech savvy, she could be making a lot more money working in tech industry instead of care taking the elderly.

Unless you expect the caregiver to be offline for the whole of the time she spends at your parents' house, she needs the WiFi password doesn't she? - like I'd know, I'm not going to be winning any techie of the year awards, that's for certain.

If you're concerned that she might spend time playing Angry Birds that she ought to be giving to care, maybe just clarify a few ground rules about what online activities are and are not acceptable while she's on duty.

What is it you want her to do while your parents are napping or watching TV or anything else where she isn't really needed to actively help them? I know that when I had a caregiver for a 6 hour block of time she helped my mom shower, toileted her as needed and served her lunch, then mom napped the rest of the time. That left her with at least 4 hours, so she did a lot of vacuuming. I would have gone stir crazy.