Amazon is deploying passkeys throughout its websites. This follows Google’s lead in making passwords obsolete.
Rather than login with a text based password, passkeys use public key cryptography. This means users cannot be phished for their passwords. Gizmodo reports:
You can now use passkeys to sign into your Amazon account, the company announced on Monday. Amazon is following suit from other big tech players who are moving away from passwords and towards biometrics, such as your fingerprint or face, as well as pins to secure your digital identity.
“While passwords will still be around in the foreseeable future, this is an exciting step in the right direction,” said Amazon’s Senior VP of Ecommerce Dave Treadwell. “We are thrilled to be an early adopter of this new authentication method, helping to realize our vision for a more secure, passwordless internet.”
Although Amazon’s e-commerce is the most visible part of the company, it also controls many other services that could benefit from this. The Verge explains:
You can also enable passkeys through the iOS app once it’s updated. It will be under Your Account > Login and Security > Set Up For Passkeys. Amazon did not provide a timeline for Android app users but did say it’s “coming soon.”
Amazon is the latest company to add passkey support for customers to securely access their accounts without a password. Just keep in mind that most companies still retain passwords on accounts, so the world won’t be genuinely password-free for a while.
Although passwords can still be used, this is a step towards a more secure Amazon experience.
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