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<chapter id="libpq">
</indexterm>
<envar>PGPASSWORD</envar>
sets the password used if the server demands password
-authentication. This environment variable is not recommended for security
-reasons; instead consider using the <filename>~/.pgpass</>
-file (see <xref linkend="libpq-pgpass">).
+authentication. Use of this environment variable is not
+recommended for security reasons (some operating systems
+allow non-root users to see process environment variables via
+<application>ps</>); instead consider using the
+<filename>~/.pgpass</> file (see <xref linkend="libpq-pgpass">).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>