Why Don’t Older Adults Adopt Two-Factor Authentication?

Abstract

Two-factor authentication (2FA) provides effective protection for online accounts by providing efficient and highly robust access control. Adoption and usability, however, remain challenges for such technologies. Most research on 2FA focuses on students or employees in the technology sector. As older adults increasingly use everyday digital technologies, providing convenient means for them to protect their online data has become extremely crucial. To aid with this, we investigated the user experience of 2FA security tokens with ten older adults ($> 60$ years) using surveys, semi-structured interviews, and a think-aloud protocol. Their lack of adoption of the devices stemmed from its shortfalls in inclusive design. Most available security tokens that are compliant with tablets have tiny form factors. The larger security keys are device- and browser- (Google Chrome) dependent. Hence, we propose design modifications and promote risk communication to encourage 2FA adoption among organizations that are most invested in protecting older adults- such as retirement management funds, banking institutions, and health care organizations.

Keywords: Authentication, Security, Older Adults