Forget your password! Google rolls out passkeys to unlock accounts with fingerprints and facial scan

It all started with birthdays and important dates, later replaced by phrases or names no one can guess and now passwords need to have numbers and special characters too. It has become increasingly hard to create passwords which are simple enough to remember and too complicated to crack at the same time, which means its time for an upgrade.

Addressing the need for change, on the first Thursday of May which is world password day, Google has rolled out support to create passkeys as an alternative to passwords.

How do passkeys work?

• Simply put, passkeys will do away with codewords to be punched in for unlocking apps or accounts and will open up access via fingerprints and facial scans.

• Another way to use passkeys will be four digit codes, like the ones people use to unlock smartphones or withdraw cash from ATMs.

• Yahoo Japan, Kayak, PayPal and Shopify among others have already deployed the passkey option for Chrome and Android.

Passwords to gradually fade away

• The Google passkey can be set up in simple steps after visiting g.co/passkeys, while phasing out passwords completely will still take time.

• Admins on Workspace will also be able to generate passkeys for end users after some time.

• Google isn't the only one, since other tech majors such as Apple and Microsoft have also been working on Passkeys.

• Considering the rapid pace at which tech evolves and revolutionary products or services become archives, the password may soon be forgotten, for good.