Passkey

Full Title or Meme

As the name Passkey suggests, it requires dual verification of an account before someone can sign-in to that account.

Context

With Passkeys there’s a subtle difference to FIDO 2.0 as it surrounds a multi-device Fast Identity Authentication with another protocol. Passkey uses a notification, which is generally sent to an individual’s smartphone during a log-in process and lets them authenticate their credentials. Often, this is done using a PIN or biometric process and thereby removes the need for conventional letter and number combination passwords.

Features

• Passkeys can be synced between devices where enabled by the device. This feature can be blocked by using device-bound Passkeys.
• The user must unlock the passkey on the device before it is used. Typically a Biometric Factor or pin is used.

Problems

• I Stopped Using Passwords. It’s Great—and a Total Mess Wired 2024-02

+ The credentials created by a web connected user on a browser are completely useless when the underlying protocol insistes on some complex format like SD-JWT.

Acceptance

• Passkeys support by both Apple and Google. See the website for details.
• By the end of 2023 it looks like more people are using passkeys than expected.

  1Password experienced a particular spike in October 2023, correlating with big companies like Amazon and WhatsApp rolling out their support for passkeys during this month, with over 70,000 created between October 16-22 alone.

Portability

Vendor Relationship Management (via Doc Searls) is coming true but it is fully hidden behind terms like:

• Password Management,
• Credential Management,
• Portable Passkeys.

But the point is that a human being can move their access and metadata about the sites that they visit as a part of their daily life. I hope it works out! I hope they make the result extensible. See this video clip from Rew Isalm and Nick Steele.