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About Passwords
Most people probably wouldn't leave the key to their house hanging from a hook on the front door. Yet these same people might be just as careless with the password that unlocks their personal information on a Web site such as WebMD. Choosing a password that's secure and maintaining its secrecy are the most important steps you can take in safeguarding your privacy.
First, let's start with choosing a good password. Passwords on WebMD must be 8 to 16 characters (letter and/or numbers) long and not contain any spaces. The ampersand (&), asterisk/star (*), plus sign (+), hyphen (-), and underscore (_) characters are allowed. Passwords are case sensitive, meaning that capital letters and lowercase letters are treated as different characters and you must type them exactly as you set them when you chose your password.
You should choose a password that is well known to you but not obvious to others. The name of your pet or significant other, your birthday, your Zodiac sign are not good choices. Neither are the words "secret" or "password," since lots of people use these.
The best passwords are long (at least 8 characters), include a mix of upper- and lower-case characters, and contain a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Some examples:
Cops&Robbers36
Love_is_GRAND
Roll*Wave*Roll
Once you've chosen a good password, you don't want to "blow it" by allowing others to see it. Memorize your password. If you must write it down, don't keep it out in the open (e.g. on a sticky note attached to your computer monitor or written on the bottom of the keyboard. Didn't think anyone else knew that trick, huh?) Keep it in a safe place, away from your computer.
When you choose your password on WebMD, you may enter a short reminder hint that will jog your memory in case you forget it. For example, if your password is "Car54WhereAreYou," you might choose a hint like "Sue"s favorite TV show," as long as lots of people who know you wouldn't know the answer to that question or who Sue is.
Don't share your password with others. A person who finds out your password can not only see your personal information, he or she can also change your preferences and settings on the WebMD site.
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