LastPass changes will make free tier less useful

[PHolder]

It's worth noting at the end of the article how to opt out of the analytics. Bring up your vault (the web page, not the toolbar icon or client app) and note the "Show Advanced Settings" is a button on the bottom of the screen:

All LastPass users, regardless of browser or device, are given the option to opt-out of these analytics in their LastPass Privacy Settings, located in their account here: Account Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Privacy

Here's some pictures of how to do it from the app icon in Firefox, but I assume it is similar for other platforms/methods:

 

[rfrazier]

I checked the settings in my account. The options and the help say the following:

(checkbox) Keep track of login and form fill history.

- Maintain a history of your website logins and form fills. When disabled, History and Recent Sites will be empty on the vault and extension, respectively.

(checkbox) Send anonymous error reporting data to help improve LastPass.

- Anonymous data is aggregated but not shared with third parties.

Regardless, I'm not worried about those options nor am I worried about the pricing. LP does what I need at a reasonable cost. Gonna keep using it for now.

May your bits be stable and your interfaces be fast. Ron

 

[Roger Rabbit]

We now know LastPass's Android app has 7 trackers imbeded.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/lastpass-android-app-contains-7-trackers.

LP has apparently made our data secure within the realm of lastpass. However, third party applications have failed.

• LastPass's Android app was written by a third party, LogMeIn, Inc.
• BitWarden's Android app is written by BitWarden, Inc.

 

[PHolder]

LastPass's Android app was written by a third party, LogMeIn, Inc.

Wut? LogMeIn *IS* LastPass. They purchased them a couple years ago.

 

[Lob]

I was going to actually update my contribution to this thread that the expectation with the change in functionality (choose mobile OR traditional device) does not make LastPass less secure. This news on the trackers however erodes that comfort.

Money is business appears greater than security is business......

 

[Philip]

These are the alternatives I’m considering:

• Bitwarden: it’s Open Source and has had several independent audits. Bitwarden security white paper.
• 1Password: has been reviewed by multiple independent security firms but it’s closed source. Right now they have a 50% discount for their family plan. 1Password security white paper.

Edits: Added the 1Password discount link and the respective security white papers.

Security white papers will tell you the encryption has been implemented correctly, which is easy to do with Encryption 101. What is hard, in fact very hard, is making the browser integration secure. As regular listeners will recall, a couple of years ago Tavis Ormandy famously dreamt up an incredibly ingenious hack whilst taking a shower. Quite unlikely that a commercial security audit would have found that. So what it comes down to is that the most important consideration is how quickly and responsibly the vendor responds to vulnerability disclosures.

 

[dmot]

LastPass’ free tier will become a lot less useful next month

Paid tiers start at $3 a month.

www.theverge.com

I remember when LastPass first started, you needed to be a paid user to have mobile access. Back then it was only $1/mo for the membership. They've been sold, and then sold again. It appears the new owners want more money for their investment.

I remember this, then I paid for two or three years, up front, because I wanted mobile access. Shortly after that, they introduced mobile access to the free plan.

 

[DanielB]

I chose LastPass years ago after looking at many others. I chose it then had my choice confirmed when Steve endorsed it sometime later. I have finally abandoned Lastpass. Once LogMeIn bought them, it was all downhill. Lastpass has gotten more buggy and much slower. And forget support! Lastpass support used to be excellent, for those of us lucky enough to have worked with Amber Gott. Count the number of support people from your past who were so good that you remember their name! Now Lastpass support tries to wear you down by requesting redundant details and talking down to you as though you are using a computer for the first time. I have switched to iPassword which actually costs the same for the family version. But, their support is what Lastpass used to be! There is even an Amber there. I checked, not the same Amber but she's just as good. There are some features missing in 1Password but it's also much faster. One of the missing features has already been added since I switched, respecting already completed fields when populating a form. Another one is that Lastpass search would search most fields, including notes. 1Password seems to ignore notes and some other fields. I will check with support on that one. I also just got too annoyed with Lastpass demanding a CC number to be on the account for "security" purposes. Who's security, theirs or mine? When I asked for justification of how they could triple the price over three years, their answer was essentially because we can. Here's the actual text from their response: "We've done a series of updates to the platform to improve it for our users, from users on the free mobile platform to our high end enterprise users. Premium has also seen a number of updates to improve the stability, and usability of the platform. We also have plans in place to massively improve the service for 2020. LastPass has improved dramatically since 2015, and we believe the $12 or $24 annual subscription no longer fits this platform." Improved dramatically? Where? How? My answer is that Lastpass no longer fits my platform. Bye-bye Lastpass.

 

[ipsfr]

For those of you, or rather of us, who find surprising insight and beauty in the work of Dan Ariely the following will not be a surprise. In 2007 he wrote a paper a about the distortions that arise from pricing things at zero. Free stuff. Read it here: http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/zero.pdf. The ability to get something for nothing leads us to exaggerate the benefits of the product, and to choose free things over things that cost actual money in an irrational way. I wonder if this is what is going on right now with LastPass free tier. I include myself in the ranks of the irrational, by the way, because knowing that these mechanisms exist doesn't mean that we can't enjoy them.

Anyway, I was also a premium user who abandoned it when the same advantages that I didn't in any case use became available in the free version. I too saw the takeover by LogMeIn Hamachi as the beginning of the end. And yet... and yet LastPass remains very slick in use. I'm not about to pay the new rates, because I found $12 annually was reasonable, so I might yet migrate to something else. This might be the tipping point.

The takeway here is that we humans are easily manipulated. Very easily. Go read Dan Ariely's paper, and find enlightenment. Marvel at the off-the-wall experiments and the weird things they reveal about the human condition. He makes some extremely valid points.

 

[Dave]

For those of you, or rather of us, who find surprising insight and beauty in the work of Dan Ariely the following will not be a surprise. In 2007 he wrote a paper a about the distortions that arise from pricing things at zero. Free stuff. Read it here: http://web.mit.edu/ariely/www/MIT/Papers/zero.pdf. The ability to get something for nothing leads us to exaggerate the benefits of the product, and to choose free things over things that cost actual money in an irrational way. I wonder if this is what is going on right now with LastPass free tier. I include myself in the ranks of the irrational, by the way, because knowing that these mechanisms exist doesn't mean that we can't enjoy them.

Anyway, I was also a premium user who abandoned it when the same advantages that I didn't in any case use became available in the free version. I too saw the takeover by LogMeIn Hamachi as the beginning of the end. And yet... and yet LastPass remains very slick in use. I'm not about to pay the new rates, because I found $12 annually was reasonable, so I might yet migrate to something else. This might be the tipping point.

The takeway here is that we humans are easily manipulated. Very easily. Go read Dan Ariely's paper, and find enlightenment. Marvel at the off-the-wall experiments and the weird things they reveal about the human condition. He makes some extremely valid points.

Loved Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational!

 

[PHolder]

distortions that arise from pricing things at zero

Loved Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational!

Does it make this seem ironic?

 

[ipsfr]

I feel myself being drawn in again... Resistance is futile...

 

[Dave]

Does it make this seem ironic?

LOL! Absolutely! Or at least until you note the "Free with trial". One of the things covered in that book is the whole "Try it in your home, risk free and at no cost to you, for 30 days." Which is predicated on the phenomenon that we ascribe additional value to something we "have" once we have it and perceive it as giving something up so we are reluctant to return it.

My daughter used to work for a DME (Durable Medical Equipment) Provider. Their biggest product/service is CPAP machines for sleep apnea. The machine is supposed to be used every night, Insurance company requires 70% "compliance" (used at least 4 hours per night for 70% of nights) to continue making payments on the machine. They would have patients who NEVER use it, yet they refuse to return "their" machine, even though their insurance company is refusing to pay for it because of "non-compliance".

 

[rfrazier]

I also just got too annoyed with Lastpass demanding a CC number to be on the account for "security" purposes.

Just refuse. When I renew and they put me on "autorenew" which I don't like, I just go in and cancel it. I don't think they have my CC and I've not honored their request to add one. If I can I pay with PayPal but I don't remember if I could in this case.

May your bits be stable and your interfaces be fast. Ron

 

[DanielB]

Just refuse. When I renew and they put me on "autorenew" which I don't like, I just go in and cancel it. I don't think they have my CC and I've not honored their request to add one. If I can I pay with PayPal but I don't remember if I could in this case.

May your bits be stable and your interfaces be fast. Ron

They did have my CC#. I deleted it a while ago. They nag you on every login. I don't need any more nagging in my life. Especially when it's for dubious purposes. I'm sticking with 1Password for now. I would rather switch all my logins to SQRL though!

 

[Cyber Axe]

Cannot wait to see what Leo/Steve will suggest as an alternative.

Still waiting

Anyone else know of any good alternatives, preferably with the ability to import from lastpass, as transferring everything is going to be a nightmare.

Partially considering onepass just because it's supported by my corporate masters, and i think steve gave it an all clear a while back.

 

[DanielB]

Still waiting

Anyone else know of any good alternatives, preferably with the ability to import from lastpass, as transferring everything is going to be a nightmare.

Partially considering onepass just because it's supported by my corporate masters, and i think steve gave it an all clear a while back.

Same here! As I recall Security Now was recorded in the Lastpass studio, right? Conflict of interest?

 

[Cyber Axe]

Umm.. this has to be one of the most common business practices in the online (and sometimes real) world. Have you not heard about the razor company that gives the razor away knowing you'll have to buy blades for a lifetime. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what LastPass did... you're not entitled to their services for free, and if you thought it would always stay free, you deluded yourself. There is no successful business that "makes it up in volume" on free.

You've found a solution that works for you at a price you like, then be happy about that and promote it... but don't beat up on LastPass for trying to make money. (I didn't start the thread to beat up on them, but to inform users they may need to change situation if they were impacted.)

Yes but with razors you don get blades taken away after you've bought into that brand, lastpass gave certain services and then offered others for a price, now it's taking away the originally available free stuff to force you into becoming a premium member.

 

[PHolder]

originally available free

You are not entitled to anything from them for free. They were nice enough to give you something for free in hopes you would enjoy it enough to elevate your membership to paid. They are now not being quite as nice. There is nothing new here... this is a perfectly common and valid business model. Just like a drug dealer... the first hit is free and you eventually will pay (one way or another in the case of drugs.)

 

[Barry Wallis]

Yes but with razors you don get blades taken away after you've bought into that brand, lastpass gave certain services and then offered others for a price, now it's taking away the originally available free stuff to force you into becoming a premium member.

Yes, but if they are using proprietary blades, they can raise the price to whatever they want or even stop making the blades.