Google Will No Longer Require Passwords For Some Of its Service

Starting from today, Google will start rolling out an alternative biometric sign-in feature for both Android and iOS so that you don’t necessarily have to make use of password again

For a while now, Google has been working on the integration of biometric sign-in alternative for its services, and just today, it is finally rolling out the feature to some of its services including Gmail, Google Account among others. The new feature lets you sign-in to some of these services on Chrome, or Android using just your fingerprint, instead of compulsorily having to use your password as in most cases before now.

According to Google, the feature will start rolling out from today, for some Android phones, while it will extend to devices with Android 7 and later in the next few days. Also, while the new development does not only offer a biometric alternative, Google help page pointed that users will also be allowed to make use of default methods as in their phone unlock setup including pins and pattern unlock.

With the new development, hacking through a service or account will become even more difficult for hackers, and apart from that, users don’t have to go through the stress of cramming digits and numbers all in the name of using a strong password.

Also, it is not new that people often reuse passwords, hence,making it a lot more vulnerable to hackers, however, having the new method will help store credentials locally on your device so they can’t be intercepted or hacked off a company’s servers, and they’re also impossible to “phish” by tricking you into visiting a fake website.

Before now, Google has been making use of Two-factor authentication alongside the use of password which then help to reduce a lot of vulnerability users are exposed to compared to using ordinary password, however, with the new method, there is near-zero vulnerability which then interprets to mean that it is impossible to hack through the new method. Apart from that, the method also lets you manage all the password that Google Chrome has saved for you, at that, if you are required to input a password, then Google will automatically pop an authentication permit that will require you to use your fingerprint or any other method you’d usually use to unlock your phone.

Google told that its new functionality is built using FIDO2 and the WebAuthn protocol, an open standard that sites can use to secure web-based logins. The FIDO2 is often more secure than the regular password, and it can be found on Android devices running version 7.0 or later. In addition, Google lets you use an Android phone as a 2FA Security Key to log in to your account using the same technology.