Facebook has never been one to shy away from the idea of shaking up the status quo to make life easier for its users. That was pretty much what happened in 2014 when it created a “Login Approvals” service that allowed Facebook users to approve or deny any login request they received on their mobile phones. Now, Facebook Login is making another change – it’s getting rid of passwords altogether.
What’s the goal?
The social networking site has long criticized classic passwords for not providing enough protection – not just because of their strength in the usual sense, but because almost all users use the exact login details across the web. This way, it only takes one leak to leave millions of accounts vulnerable.
By the way, it’s not just Facebook; it’s Google, Yahoo, etc. Facebook has been working on a solution for some time, and now something has happened that could help move in a new direction. At a developer conference, the site’s developers released a package called Account Kit, which allows you to log in to applications using a phone number or email instead of typing in a username and password.
The idea is that instead of a fixed password, you get a unique code every time you log in – this type of identification is not unknown. Of course, Microsoft uses it for Windows account registration, and Facebook uses it for a password reset. Still, almost all banks use it to check that the authorized user is using the NetBank.
Conclusion
With the recent news of new updates to Facebook’s privacy settings, it has come to light that some of their latest changes include the ability to use biometrics for users logging in on the platform. This is an exciting development, but with one small caveat: Facebook might be using these features as justification to erase your password altogether!