Just like the many new students who flooded the campus last week, I got a new laptop this summer. Now, that in itself isn’t particularly unusual, but what is unusual is that I suddenly no longer need a password to log in.

For years, TU/e has been making it increasingly difficult to create and remember passwords. As far as I know, the current password has to be at least twelve characters long and contain letters, numbers, and special characters. It also cannot be the same as any previously used password, and you have to use your phone to receive a code every time you want to log in.

Well, have to? Had to! Because imagine my surprise when I discovered that this is no longer necessary at all. On my new laptop, I can log in using facial recognition or a fingerprint. And logging in to email, Teams, or the twenty other systems I need every day works the same way. No more password or phone required. Much more convenient.

There is one catch: the camera does have to recognize your face, and that doesn’t always work. Apparently, the thing expects you to smile cheerfully—even at 7:30 on a Monday morning. So I expect to see plenty of cheerful students over the coming weeks, sitting there smiling at their brand-new laptops, simply so they can log in.

And if you happen to be having a bad day and really can’t manage a smile, a six-digit PIN of your own choosing will do just fine. When I got my student laptop in 1998, it had a four-digit PIN. A few years later, that was increased to six digits for security reasons. Fortunately, I still remembered that PIN. I thought it was historically appropriate to set it up again.

Boudewijn van Dongen is a full professor of Process Analytics at TU/e. The views expressed in this column are his own.

This column was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.