Google Plans To Bring Password-Free Logins To Android Apps By Year-End (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report on TechCrunch: Google's plan to eliminate passwords in favor of systems that take into account a combination of signals -- like your typing patterns, your walking patterns, your current location, and more -- will be available to Android developers by year-end, assuming all goes well in testing this year. In an under-the-radar announcement Friday afternoon at the Google I/O developer conference, the head of Google's research unit ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) Daniel Kaufman offered a brief update regarding the status of Project Abacus, the name for a system that opts for biometrics over two-factor authentication. With Project Abacus, users would unlock devices or sign into applications based on a cumulative "Trust Score." This score would be calculated using a variety of factors, including your typing patterns, current location, speed and voice patterns, facial recognition, and other things.The Trust API will be available to developers, who can then implement that into their apps. The company says that developers will have the option to adjust the threshold required for a trust score.

Comments

Re:Luddite here

[93 Escort Wagon]

What on earth is wrong with two factor authentication? I can't see these being more secure.

The problem is - Google can't collect more information on you when you're using traditional two-factor authentication. With this new technique, on the other hand, Google will hopefully cut down on the pesky number of users who intentionally disable Google's monitoring when they aren't actively using Google's apps. To collect information on your walking cadence, for instance, they'll need to be able to track your walking constantly.