I knew caring for my 88-year-old mom would be hard. I didn't expect to spend so much time on tech support.

My mother, fiercely independent up until her 80s, recently transitioned into an assisted living facility in Connecticut due to declining health. Despite her initial reluctance, I was relieved that she'd receive necessary support with daily tasks. However, I never anticipated that technology support would become such a significant responsibility.

Two-factor authentication and passwords have made caring for my mother a daily challenge. Logging into her health insurance accounts to access reimbursement forms has turned into an hour-long ordeal, involving forgotten passwords, verification codes sent to old email addresses, and phone calls to insurance companies. My mother, who once managed her digital life independently, now requires assistance with tasks that were once simple.

Her inability to use a password manager or Face ID due to Parkinson's disease and the intricacies of two-factor authentication have left her unable to manage her accounts on her own. As technology increasingly assumes that everyone uses password managers, retrieves verification codes on multiple devices, and interacts with chatbots instead of people, my mother can no longer navigate these systems independently. This shift has resulted in her losing control over her life, a stark contrast to her previous self-reliance.