Google has begun rolling out support for passkeys across personal Google Accounts on all major platforms, giving users an additional option to sign in, alongside passwords and two-step verification.
The news comes in advance of World Password Day and a year after Google, Apple, Microsoft and the FIDO Alliance announced that the companies would begin working to support passkeys as a more secure alternative to passwords.
While Google will be supporting passkeys, they will be an additional option that people can use to sign in alongside passwords and two-step verification, Google says, hinting that users may not need passwords by next year’s World Password Day.
According to Google, passkeys will allow users to sign into apps and sites the same way they unlick their devices: with a fingerprint, a face scan or scree lock PIN. The company says passkeys will be far more secure than passwords and other authentication methods, such as one-time SMS codes.
“Over the past year we’ve shared updates on bringing passkey experiences to both Chrome and Android, which services like Docusign, Kayak, PayPal, Shopify and Yahoo! Japan have already deployed to streamline sign-in for their users,” Google says in a blog. “Starting today, this will be available as an option for Google Account users who want to try a passwordless sign-in experience.”
While the rollout is beginning for personal Google Accounts, Google Workspace account administrators will soon have the option to enable passkeys for end users during sign in, the company says in the blog.
Google acknowledged that the change to passwordless technologies like passkeys will take time, which is why the passwords and two-step verification will still work for Google Accounts.
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