There has been a plague among Indiana University students. This disease is in the form of an electronic app delaying our survival on campus. For if you attempt to kill it off, it will come back stronger and better.

The disease that I speak of is DUO Login.

DUO Login is a two-factor authentication system that is supposedly supposed to protect users when using its applications. When you log into the university site, you are supposed to authenticate or approve the login through another device of your own possession. If you ask me or any other IU student, the program is just a pain. The program drags the process of turning in papers, projects, and even printing longer than it has to be. In fact, one IU student has taken action on the issue and has spread awareness of the trials DUO Login causes us all. Jason Palmer* has exercised his freedom of speech by creating a popular Facebook Page that bands students against DUO together. Students give their testimonies on how DUO has disrupted their life and success at IU. One student explains her frustration: “My phone died at the library and I had no charger. I went to submit the project I was working on all night and couldn't get on Canvas because I couldn't log in thanks to Duo and my phone being dead.” Without further ado, let’s discuss reasons you should hate DUO Login.

If your only other device is your smartphone, it's useless.

The average student most likely only carries two devices: a laptop and a cellphone. If your cell phone unexpectedly breaks, you have to somehow register another device within hours or days to have access to your assignments. If you’re going hardcore at the library studying and your phone dies, you are forced to go home when DUO decided that you’ve been inactive for too long. Even if you keep the page open on your computer, the application closes due to lack of activity and forces you to do that same dreadful process.

If your phone, iPad, etc dies when you're out and your paper just so happens to be due, you're screwed.

Sure, professors say you should not wait last minute to complete an assignment. However, we all have different lives. Sometimes the best option for an assignment to get done is the day it is due. However, DUO makes this difficult for us busybodies. As mentioned before, if your device dies you have no other option to get into Canvas unless you find someone with a charger; even that won’t help because it may take about two minutes for the device to boot up when it is completely dead. Furthermore, you will have to explain the lateness of your assignment to your teacher being that DUO killed it.

The university is forcing a system of security that is unwanted.

I’m almost certain, no student asked for this chore. Being in college is difficult enough without useless authentication programs. Students pay extremely high tuition at IU, so don’t we have some say in this? Should it be allowed that our class registration is threatened by our choice to refrain from the application’s use? In no way, shape, or form is this application helping me graduate any easier.

Professors and instructors assume you’re not paying attention in class when you have to use DUO.

Many professors and instructors like to post their slides online and it allows students to follow along. It’s a great tool to keep students engaged in the learning. However, cell phones have gotten a bad reputation in the classroom over the years. It does not help that school are trying to integrate more technology into learning. I can feel my instructor’s eyes piercing at me as I try to authenticate DUO as fast as I can to open up Canvas. The pressure even happens for teachers when they log in. They always feel the need to explain to students why they have to use their cellphone in the middle of the lecture.

Needless to say, DUO is a drag. Here are quotes from real students about their opinion on DUO:

“It is the f*&#ing worst thing ever created...They already made me create a long a** passphrase, why the f*&# should I have to confirm my login after that, bulls*&#. ” - AR

“My favorite part about Duo is when my phone is dead and I can’t access anything.” - AB

“First, if I’m accessing through my phone I still have to do it, which kind of defeats the purpose. Second, you have to do it for every little thing...I understand like Bursar or Financial Aid...but not other stuff [such as Laundry Status or IU Bucks Meal Plan App].” - KB