Facial recognition and microchips could make passwords a thing of the past

  • 24/01/2018

Coming up with passwords is part and parcel of digital life. We all have to enter passwords multiple times a day to access our email, social media and smartphones.

But tech security is making inroads to developing futuristic technology which could make typing in a password a thing of the past.

Ben Gracewood, chief engineering officer at Vend, says by 2020 we might not be using passwords at all. He doesn't type in a single password in his daily life.

"I use a password management app," he told The Project. "I use touch ID and face ID to unlock that, and it puts all my passwords in for me."

He embraces the idea of a password-free future to put an end to what he calls the "day-to-day annoyance" of having to remember passwords.

"The trick with us nerds is we don't put up with annoyances 10 times a day. We crunch it all into half a day of anger where we sit down and fix it."

The governor of Hawaii recently made headlines when he admitted that the reason he didn't correct the infamous false missile alert sooner was that he'd forgotten his Twitter login.

It's estimated some 3 million Bitcoins have been lost because of forgotten passwords. 

Newer models of smartphones and devices are using passwords less and less, instead offering fingerprint, voice ID and facial recognition to unlock them.

Some people have gone as far as having a microchip inserted under their skin to instantly access devices, which Mr Gracewood says is a "very fringe hacker culture thing".

"But it's not that different to having a little USB dongle thing you plug in. People have pets microchipped. It could be a thing."

Watch the full interview on The Project above.