Google hopes to kill off passwords by the end of the year

Google is to trial an alternative to passwords next month, which could signal the end of complicated logins – or really easy ones if you use “password” as your actual password.

The new feature is called the Trust API. It uses several pieces of evidence to prove that you are who you say that you are and that you actually have the authorisation to access an account. Google suggests that the Trust API could use a range of biometric indicators, including your voice pattern and face shape, and even some less obvious ones like how you move, how you type, and how you swipe on a screen.

By combining a range of biometric indicators, Google believes that it can create a login system that’s 10 times more secure than using your fingerprint. Rather than a binary system like a password, the API will offer a score of how confident it is that you are who you purport to be.