Over the past five years, Google has been trying to get users to say goodbye to traditional passwords that are insecure and easy to guess. From the early promotion of hardware keys (such as YuBiCo’s security keys) to the later launch of the Passkeys passwordless login mechanism that supports biometrics, Google’s direction has always been the same: to make account verification more secure and intuitive. Now, the company has taken another step forward and started to promote the use of “selfie videos” as an identity verification method. The concept is somewhat similar to using Face ID to log in on iPhone or iPad, but the verification form is more dynamic.
Google now lets users log in with instant selfie videos
Google said that selfie videos are a new account login option, mainly used to provide an additional security backup mechanism when users are locked out of their accounts or unable to use their normal mobile phones and computers. In other words, when you can’t retrieve your password, don’t have a commonly used device at hand, and urgently need to log in to your account, selfie videos can be an alternative.
These selfie videos are only used for identity verification, and Google emphasizes that they will be stored and processed in an encrypted manner. In order to avoid deepfakes or the use of other people’s photos and videos for fraudulent use, Google has added an “instant” judgment mechanism to the entire verification process to ensure that the faces and actions in the picture are real and shot at the moment, rather than pre-prepared images.
Specifically, when the selfie verification process is started, the user will be asked to make obvious head movements, such as turning the head left and right or moving up and down. The system will capture these movements through the front lens of the device and compare them. Google also reminds that sunglasses, masks, hats and other obstructions must be removed during verification, and other faces or objects that may interfere with recognition should not appear in the background to ensure the accuracy of verification results.
However, this feature isn’t available for all Google Accounts. According to official support documents, Google Workspace accounts, child accounts, and accounts that have joined the Advanced Protection Program cannot currently enable selfie video verification. For ordinary users, if they do not want to keep these verification videos, they can also manually delete the recorded selfie images in the account settings.
Google is trying to make account security more flexible and more relevant for modern use cases. From hardware keys to Passkeys to selfie videos, these tools are all designed to reduce the risk of lost or stolen passwords while allowing users to securely retrieve their accounts at the most inconvenient moments. It remains to be seen what the next step will be, but what is certain is that Google is gradually promoting an era of “passwordless” and more dynamic authentication.
Source: KOCPC Chinese