14 DAY TRIAL // Google has made it clear that it plans to drive the password to extinction. Passwords these days are as unsafe as they are hard to remember. Things like two-factor authentication can only help so much.
Google wants the password gone, and it's not the only one. It's already working on technologies to replace the password while still providing secure authentication methods.
Some of the wilder ideas are tattoos that act as authentication tokens or even electronic pills that have to be swallowed.
But Google has some more down to Earth and already doable ideas, like a patent application recently uncovered shows.
Android already has a face unlock feature, which was recently improved by asking users to blink to prevent static photos from being used to fool the system.
But even with the blinking, the lock can be bypassed. But Google isn't done; in the patent application, it details some of the ways people will be able to use their faces and expressions to unlock their devices.
Granted, some may not be too keen on these new features. Your phone may soon ask you to frown, stick your tongue out or wiggle your eyebrow to prove that it's you that's trying to unlock the phone and that you're following the instructions on the screen.
There's no guarantee that Google will ever go through with the idea, as patents these days are filed more for the sake of it.
But it does show that Google is very serious about new authentication methods. In fact, these next-generation authentication systems are only a few years away, if Google has its way.
Most likely, tattoo passwords won't be the first thing that comes out. Rather, USB keys, which already exist, could be used as authentication tokens that can be easily transported and used, at least with computers.