Apple Wants To Eliminate Passwords By Using Face ID And Touch ID

Many believe that passwords are an antiquated system that needs to go. This is because passwords can be guessed, especially when people choose to use weak passwords, or they can be leaked when hackers breach a system. However, to eliminate passwords entirely is a monumental task, and that’s something that Apple is hoping to build towards.

During one of the company’s developer sessions at WWDC 2021, they unveiled a new authentication technology based on iCloud Keychain. How it works is that when you set up an account on a website, you just need to pick your username like you normally would, and then your device will use either Face ID or Touch ID to verify it’s you, and that’s it.

All passkeys will be generated and stored on your device and then synchronized across all other devices linked to your Apple ID. Apple says that this tech is based on the existing WebAuthn technology, so it should be familiar to some developers already.

According to Garrett Davidson, an Apple authentication experience engineer, “Because it’s just a single tap to sign in, it’s simultaneously easier, faster and more secure than almost all common forms of authentication today.” That being said, the success of this feature hinges on developers adopting it, so while it might sound good on paper, if no one chooses to use it, it would be pretty useless.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, General
Tags: face id, Security, touch id, wwdc, wwdc 2021