Google plans to move away from passwords for logins

Google plans to gradually move away from the current framework of login’s that relies on the age old concept of Username and Password. The plan is to minimise or actually eliminate the concept along with addition of PIN or Password sent to your phone via SMS or email, a system known as two-factor authentication. TechCrunch was the first to report on the Google’s ambitious plan to kill the passwords. The Company has been trying to develop technology to move away from passwords and other conventional methods of login security since some time now. The result of all these efforts transpired in the form of Project Abacus, unveiled last year during Google I/O 2015 and this year Google showed the development ever since. Project Abacus is a system that opts for biometric data in place of the passwords or two-factor authentication and gathers data by using the phone sensors to gather the location, typing pattern, the way one is walking and other details like speed, voice patterns and facial recognition. This year Google showed the progress since the last year and the initial project evolved into Trust API. This system works on the concept that people, even if unable to remember passwords, can act like themselves so that the bulk of password recalling is shifted to the device. This system works on gathering all this data while running in the background. All the parameters are evaluated and a ‘Trust Score’ is calculated. This along with the Trust API can be used by developers all around the world along with the ability to give different Apps’ different requirements or levels of ‘Trust Score,’. For example, a banking app can ideally use a higher ‘Trust Score’ and a gaming app can use a lower score for login. The availability of the API depends on how it performs in testing. Even though Google has a rudimentary implementation of the same using ‘Smart Lock’, where you can unlock the device when the device is in a ‘Trusted Location’ and a ‘Trusted Bluetooth’, but this provides a far secure and comprehensive solution to go password-free. Trust API can be a complete solution while competing with Apple’s TouchID and Microsoft’s Windows Hello.