Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is truly one of the most annoying things being imposed on us these days. It forces you to keep your phone at hand just to log in to the basic websites & things you need, like a digital leash. (And the forced part of it really pisses me off — it should be my choice if I want to use a strong password, keep that password safe, and opt-out of 2FA. But that’s a topic for another day…)

I do my work at a computer (not a phone, not a tablet, a real computer), and when I’m working I want minimal distractions. I often work with my phone off, or not even in the same room with me. It’s therefore so annoying when I need to login to, say, Gmail, and it won’t let me without pressing some stupid number prompt on my phone — forcing me to stop what I’m doing, get up and retrieve my phone, and waste several minutes jumping through this unnecessary hoop.

All of that is bad enough, but recently I encountered a site — which unfortunately I must use frequently for my work — which added a new 2FA requirement, only this one didn’t give me the option to receive a code by SMS or email. The ONLY choice provided was to use an “authenticator app”, with a QR code shown and buttons for installing certain Google and Microsoft apps provided. Fuck. 🙁
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