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Original poster

Cleaner wants internet access - WWYD

425 replies

BlankProfile · 06/11/2020 00:06

We have had our cleaner for several years. She's honest, reliable and does a reasonable job.
Our internet password is on the back of the box and at some point she has seen this and used it to sign into our network. I found out today because we have recently changed our password and she asked me for the new one, obviously forgetting she had never asked me for the password in the first place.
It's annoyed me, but we have unlimited data and in the time she's been using it, it's never caused a problem.
Should I give her the new password?

OP posts:
MiniMum97 · 07/11/2020 17:41

I wouldn't give her the password unless you are able to give guest access. It reduces the security of your network - if she gives it to someone unscrupulous they can use it to get into your network and can then obtain password details potentially (in the same way that can be done if you access financial websites via public unsecured networks).

Whenlifegivesyoulimoncello · 07/11/2020 17:54

@MiniMum97 tbis is the fucking cleaner... what if she gives the you know - keys to the actual house to someone unscrupulous. If you trust your cleaner to access your home - you probably should trust them not to pass on your WiFi details to, I don’t know, a random peadophile who is going to drive to their house, sit outside to steal their WiFi and download.

Ddot · 07/11/2020 17:56

No! She should be working. If she wants music get her a radio. I assume she is only working a couple of hours at a go. Bleeding cheek

notacooldad · 07/11/2020 18:00

Your house, your wifi, your password. She should have asked you and not been sneaky and found the password and helped herself
She probably didn't realise she would have been thought of as being sneeky.
Many people I know, the first thing they do when they go to a café is ask for the wifi code. You can go into a pub and the wifi code is up near the bar. McDonald's and the like have free wifi, I know this isn't the same as being in a public place but many people use the nearest wifi to log into. If the password was in view she probably didn't think twice over it. I can easily see that happening.
I think the cleaner is getting a hard time for probably wanting to listen to Spotify as she cleans up and does a "reasonable job"

YogiBearcub · 07/11/2020 18:01

Yes, why on earth not? Are you one of these people that does not even allow her to have a drink of tea or coffee while she is there? She probably does not have a good Internet package on her phone (I know some people with PAYG who in fact have not Internet unless it is WiFi) while you have tons of free Internet to use. She may need it to make sure she manages to catch the bus on time after the clean or to get any urgent messages from her family etc, or as others have said to listen to music. If you can afford a cleaner you can afford to give her your Internet password when it comes at no cost to you. If she was a James Bond grade hacker she would not be cleaning your house for £12 an hr.

Pipandmum · 07/11/2020 18:03

It would never occur to me to give my cleaner the internet password and she has never asked. I suppose if she did I would but I don't know why she would need it. I've never had a cleaner who has listened to music and as for checking stuff like on FB, surely they can check on 4G or whatever in their own time after they've left. I don't think it's a standard thing to do.

Alpal1 · 07/11/2020 18:09

Maybe she wants to listen to music as she cleans or use what’sapp for phone if she can’t get a phone signal. You could just ask her ofc but that might cause some offence. It sounds like you don’t trust her

Jeeperscreepers69 · 07/11/2020 18:16

Why didnt she just take the password when she was dusting

Neilyweily · 07/11/2020 18:38

No!

Definitely deny the person that you have trusted to clean your house for many years the right to use the internet for free while doing your work.

She will definitely be ordering mass amounts of weedkiller, sugar and human trafficking while cleaning up after your lazy arse.

Jaxxy · 07/11/2020 19:02

Yes! My cleaner uses our internet, plays music on her iPad while she is cleaning. I know this from wfh. We never discussed the password, she has never had to ask and I have never given it a second thought. I would be offended if I was your cleaner and thought you grudged me using the WiFi. Most packages are unlimited data now and pretty cheap.

Tistheseason17 · 07/11/2020 19:05

Nope. Would not give my password.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 07/11/2020 19:25

It's not your personal password, it is just a password to access to the intenet hub. If you had a family of six they would all have the same access password.

Either let her use the WiFi access point or let her tyres down and sack her!

heaveho · 07/11/2020 19:26

Yes

GertieBassett · 07/11/2020 19:37

@Neilyweily

No!

Definitely deny the person that you have trusted to clean your house for many years the right to use the internet for free while doing your work.

She will definitely be ordering mass amounts of weedkiller, sugar and human trafficking while cleaning up after your lazy arse.

😂😂
GertieBassett · 07/11/2020 19:42

@HillaryWhitney

Just out of interest - does anybody have any statistics on how many people in England in 2019-20 have been arrested by the police due to other people downloading inappropriate content while using their WIFI?

I'm sure a FOI request would yield the result ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NONE 😂

MN you've been making be laugh for a decade. This place will never get old 🤣

Spot on!
Clackyheels · 07/11/2020 20:00

People are so quick to make peoples life necessarily harder, mostly just through selfish stubborness. Honestly, what on earth does it matter. Whoops, she should have asked, oh well no big deal. I'll let her continue to receive messages and listen to music while she scrubs my shit off the toilet. Mountain out of a mole hill.

MiniMum97 · 07/11/2020 20:07

[quote Whenlifegivesyoulimoncello]@MiniMum97 tbis is the fucking cleaner... what if she gives the you know - keys to the actual house to someone unscrupulous. If you trust your cleaner to access your home - you probably should trust them not to pass on your WiFi details to, I don’t know, a random peadophile who is going to drive to their house, sit outside to steal their WiFi and download.[/quote]
You may choose to give out your WiFi password to all the sundry. I do not as it’s a security risk. I set up a guest network and give them that. Which is perfectly easy to do and avoids any issues security wise.

Keys to your home is completely different. The first place the police would look in the event of a burglary would be the people who have keys.

Cybercrime is much harder to pin down. And why take the risk if it’s easily avoided.

sirfredfredgeorge · 07/11/2020 20:18

Which is perfectly easy to do and avoids any issues security wise

No it doesn't, but it does mitigate some risks.

Cybercrime is much harder to pin down. And why take the risk if it’s easily avoided

What it is does not mitigate though is the "cybercrime" you talk of, once the packets leave your network there's no evidence at all that they came from your "guest network" vs your "normal network", and if you actually put logging such that you could demonstrate they did come from your "guest network", you would of course still be suspected just as much as obviously you also have access.

There are very good reasons to have a guest network, but "preventing cybercrime committed on your broadband" is certainly not one of them.

HillaryWhitney · 07/11/2020 20:33

@Nicknacky
No one has mentioned arrests. Do you actually have a clue as to how people who have accessed indecent images of children are traced?

No I don't. Enlighten me please.

DressingGownofDoom · 07/11/2020 20:34

@Bwlch

Can you set up a separate guest network? You could call it "Cleaner".
😂😂😂
Mum2jenny · 07/11/2020 20:37

No, I would not give her the password. She can use 4G surely. But I’m a bit paranoid about this sort of stuff. I’d wonder what she needs internet access for when she’s cleaning!!

moreginrequired · 07/11/2020 20:38

If you're worried what she is downloading set up a guest account for her to use. I listen to audio books when I clean my own house, she's likely just doing similar, give the woman a break ...

DressingGownofDoom · 07/11/2020 20:38

@BlankProfile

Wow. This has turned into a bun fight.

But can I just point out I have never suggested that she is doing any of the nasty stuff being thrown about here. All I have said about her is that she is honest and reliable. And that I am mildly annoyed by the fact she had taken our internet password without mentioning it.

Yes a bun fight between weirdos who are too stingy to let people in their house use their WiFi and normal people.
User43210 · 07/11/2020 20:39

I would be very pissed off if someone I hired to clean my house took the WiFi password without asking. Fair enough if they ask, but to just assume someone is okay with this is bad. There are lots of security/IP issues that could arise from someone using your WiFi.

Did she ask the very first time she entered after it was changed (meaning she uses it constantly and not just a WhatsApp check).

I’d be tempted to say “oh, you’ve been using our wifi?! We had to change the password as we were going over our data and couldn’t work out why, it’s been costing us loads!” And see the reaction 😂

Emmelina · 07/11/2020 20:43

We have a cleaner in once a fortnight, she stays a few hours for a proper clean and streams music from her phone to AirPods as she works. I’ve no issue with her using our connection for this.