Cannot copy-and-paste to change password

[Prop3000]

Hello.  My first post here.  I hope it's not out of line.

I use a password vault program to generate random passwords.  PayPal allows up to 20 character passwords consisting of numbers, lettters, and special characters.  I change my password once a month.

Until last summer, PayPal allowed me to copy-and-paste generated passwords into the new and confirm password fields.  Then it disallowed that, opening up a tooltip saying "Don't copy and paste."  That makes PayPal one of only two sites out of the 152 I manage with the vault program (the other is Dish Network) that do not allow copy-and-paste when changing passwords.

Manually entering a random password is time-consuming and error prone.  Last month I had to use "forgot password" twice because I misread the password in the vault when entering it, and it didn't work when I tried to log in.

I tried sending e-mail to customer support last August.  With your indulgence, here it is:

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With PayPal's new website, it is now impossible to copy/paste a new password when changing passwords.  The website not only prohibits it, it pops up a window exhorting manual entry.

PLEASE FIX THIS TO ALLOW COPY AND PASTING AS YOU DID IN THE PAST.  IT WORKS, IT REDUCES ERRORS AND IT'S MUCH EASIER.

I change my password monthly.  It is randomly generated by a password vault program and includes the full 20 pseudo-random upper and lower case letters, digits, and special characters.  It is INCREDIBLY difficult to enter these accurately manually, expecially when you hide the entry with dots.

PLEASE FIX THIS TO ALLOW COPY AND PASTING AS YOU DID IN THE PAST.  IT WORKS, IT REDUCES ERRORS AND IT'S MUCH EASIER.

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They answered the next day (Subject:  Questions about Address Changes [!]) (headings only shown):

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Managing My E-mail Address

Managing My Mailing Address

Need more information?  We can help

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So no one there actually reads what people write.  That's why I now turn to you.

Is there any way to get through to these people?  Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks for any tips.

[snowshoe]

Folks at PayPal do read suggestions but, from years of experience with PayPal, they not going change the security they have in place. 

[Prop3000]

But they *do* "change the security they have in place."  They did just last summer when they imposed this onerous "do not copy" restriction on all of us.  Apparently I am in a minority.  If enough users complained and it became a business decision for them, I bet they'd change it back again.

I'm surprised they don't see that such a policy results in users "dumbing down" their password.  In my case, I simply stopped using special characters.  If it still proves to be a problem in the future, I may shorten my password from the 20 characters maximum to some more manageable length, say 10.

What really upset me last August wasn't that they didn't fix the problem.  it was that they appeared not to have read what I wrote, and answered completely different questions that I didn't ask.

I'd write a note to James Barrese, their VP of tech, if I knew his contact into.  Maybe a post on Yelp would get their attention.

[snowshoe]

Correct, if enough folks complain, change is possible.  But they are slow - when we first go involved with PayPal, it two years just to convice them of the need to be able to apply sales tax by areas.  All you could do at the time was the basic rate for each state however, it's more complicated than that.  Finally 3 years later, they implemented the changes needed. The whole process took 5 years.  So there is hope, get your friends involved.

[otbricki]

I agree with the original poster. I like to use long passwords and the inability to paste in a generated password is a real issue. It discourages users from using long randomly generated passwords which is a real issue.

Whoever created the existing mechanism has made a real mistake.