The need to secure accounts and access to various applicationsPasswords, on the way out?, systems and gadgets through passwords are coming to an end. Or at least this seems to be the trend in the IT world. Google seems to be the first to declare open war on passwords.
1. Thus, the new Android model, Android L, which will be launched this fall, will have several new ways to identify you as the owner and to log you in automatically on the phone, without the need to enter a PIN code. It will recognize you by voice, by proximity to your watch or paired device (Android Wear), or by checking your location.
2. Also from Google, and also this fall, will come Chromebooks – the computer equipped with Chrome OS as the operating system – which will connect automatically to your Android phone and will start up on its own, even logging into some Google accounts.
3. Apple has not missed this new opportunity either, launching at the end of 2013 Apple's Touch ID, the fingerprint recognition system located on the Home button, which allows identification and access. Soon, an improved and expanded version of the application will be launched.
The idea of using fingerprints is older and has been used on some computers (although it did not have the expected success then), as well as on other phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One Max.
Beyond these proposals, which seem and are feasible, less usual ideas have appeared since last year.
4. The first is the use of a tattoo, which functions as a password when scanned. Although it seemed very unlikely that someone would want to tattoo themselves for life just to avoid entering characters on the phone, the idea caught on quite well, so Motorola has already launched the Moto X, a smartphone that comes with a set of temporary tattoos (lasting 5 days). These incorporate an NFC sensor, which allows identification and logging into the system.
5. Motorola also came up with an even more unusual idea: swallowing an authentication pill. The user would have to swallow a pill every day inside which there is a chip. Once in the stomach, this chip is activated by gastric juices and emits a signal similar to an ECG, which will allow each device to identify it and authenticate.
All these ideas have also raised controversies, as always happens. Some more, some less. However, most consider that it is not advisable to limit internet security to a single element, be it a smartphone or anything else. Since in the last 6 months there have been security issues with over half a billion accounts, eliminating the password does not yet seem to be a reliable and safe solution.
