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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
There is the reason you have to reluctantly say no.
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.
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.
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.
In any case, when companies like movie distributors go after users for illegal downloading, they tend to go after individuals with personal accounts, not business accounts with public wifi.
I am writing this as someone who may have, ahem, pirated some movies and TV shows in her day. One day I got a warning notice from my ISP to stop downloading a certain show and to delete all the copies I had. So I don't do it anymore, and I certainly don't do it now that I'm using mom's internet! And this is in Canada, where I'm lucky enough that our internet providers won't give our personal information to companies or lawyers trying to secure copyright.
Edit: personally, though, I feel people should have more concern about their kids or grandkids illegally downloading (because young people often don't think it's a big deal) than their caregivers, who are usually bonded through their agencies and probably wouldn't dream of risking their jobs just to pirate movies....especially when it's pretty easily done at home using a VPN (virtual private network).
If it has a limited time/download, then I would say "Sorry, but no".
If it is unlimited and she is using her own device, I see no problems.
Depending on how you setup your router and declared your network on your computer, giving the wireless access password may or may not risk compromising the data on your laptop. Routers have at least two passwords - the admin password (used to control router functions including security) and the connection password used to connect to the default/primary SID. That little WPS button doesn't work if the admin has disabled it - it's designed to be used where the router is physically secured. No app is going to break the password if it's setup correctly either (at least not for a couple of years). Of course if the admin password is still set to the default, then all an app has to do is determine the router type and log right in as the admin with the known and published default password.
My router is setup with two SIDs (network IDs) each with its own password; one is for MY use that has top priority on bandwidth and the second guest setup only gets what bandwidth I'm not using. The kids use the "guest" where every device and URL is logged and there are limits on usage and a list of sites that cannot be accessed at all. My personal network is declared a "home" network on my laptop so I can see printers, tablets, and other devices. I would not use the "home" declaration if _anyone_ else was on that network; windows provides much better default protections for "public" networks.
I work from home and need my network to be secure so I spent the time to setup a second "guest" network. I do not recommend you consider this. If you decide to share the network with your care giver and you have concerns over the security of your data, make sure your network is declared "public" on your computer.
One very good method of protecting your laptop is to turn it (or at least the wireless) off when you are not sitting in front of it. Together with a password or fingerprint lock, that leaves your computer fairly well protected unless your care giver is a devoted hacker. You are much more likely to compromise your data by clicking on an email link (and downloading/installing a virus) than having a guest break in using your network.
BTW - if a guest uses your network for illegal purposes, including pirate downloads or viewing child porn, you could become the target of a local/state/federal investigation and need to "prove" you are not the guilty party. That's not difficult if you're willing to allow the authorities to scan your computer/smart phone, but it is a pain.
Hope at least some of that is helpful.