Promising future for passwordless security as Google rolls out its Passkeys initiative

Google has announced a new initiative where users will be prompted to switch to passkeys in a bid to speed up the migration to a passwordless future. The next time you sign in to your Google account or create a new account you’ll see the option to create and use passkeys.

This new sign-in method leverages your biometric data (fingerprint or face scan) or your device unlock pattern/code to give you access to your Google account.

However, the company is not entirely phasing out passwords and you’ll have the option to opt out of passkeys by turning off the “Skip password when possible” option in settings. I don’t recommend you do that.

Apart from the obvious advantage of never having to remember a complex password, passkeys are more secure than passwords because they are phishing-resistant. Hackers can’t trick you into revealing your password to them which they then use to take over your account.

Google introduced passkeys earlier this year and the company says the positive reception they got from their customers is what prompted them to start the new initiative.

“Since launching earlier this year, people have used passkeys on their favorite apps like YouTube, Search, and Maps, and we’re encouraged by the results,” the company wrote in a blog post.

Google joins a list of tech giants including Uber and eBay who are ditching passwords in favor of the more secure passkeys option.

Hopefully, we can see this trend adopted across industries to a point where passwords finally become obsolete.