Password requirements don't really protect the business, they protect the user, and if the user isn't interested in protecting their data, why should the company force them to care?
Yeah, I just don't see the risk here. I don't keep my old magazines in a safe. They go under the coffee table, and then they go outside to the recycling bin.
In some countries what you read may be sensitive info for many people.
The article hammers on accessiblity over security and I think you've taken this too far. A minimum password length of 8 is not a 'strange requirement'.