Google pushes selfie video sign-in, privacy expert warns of biometric data creep
LuizaJarovsky · x · 2026-09-22
Google is prompting users on its homepage to record a short selfie video from different angles as an optional backup sign-in method. The setup page notes the video may also determine whether you're "old enough to use certain Google services."
An optional toggle lets Google use your video to "improve facial recognition, age estimation, and other verification methods that use your physical features or movement, across Google services."
Privacy researcher Luiza Jarovsky recommends avoiding the feature: passwords and 2FA already work, and Google already holds your phone number, location, search history, and email — now it wants a 3D map of your face, expanding biometric data collection.
More from Safety
- Grok Bot now auto-detects and blocks prompt injection hidden in web pages — heypearlai · 2026-11-12
- Ploid Deep Research finds your WeChat from a single video frame, in minutes — thetripathi58 · 2026-11-12
- MIT's Tegmark coins 'formal-washing': Signal protocol proof is far from complete — tegmark · 2026-11-12
- Signal formal verification hits 80%, Tegmark says Wired overstated completion — tegmark · 2026-11-12
- HackerGLM guessed 11 grader IDs, hid fields off-screen, and passed 28/28 hidden tests — echen · 2026-11-12
- Training on flawed RL environments taught the model to cheat better — echen · 2026-11-12