by Dan Moren
Amazon joins the passkey revolution
Passkey adoption seems to be accelerating. The Verge reports Amazon has now joined the ranks of online services that allow you to generate the secure credentials to log in to its site, joining Apple, Google, and a slew of others. You can set up a passkey on the website under Your Account > Login & Security > Passkey, or via the updated version of the iOS app.
I set up a passkey at Amazon and it was a perfectly smooth experience: clicking the Set Up link prompted me to authenticate with Touch ID on my MacBook Air, and that was that. When I tested logging in, I was given the option to enter my password or choose to sign in with a passkey.1
Amazon’s adoption is particularly significant given its prominence in the online sphere. As more big companies of its size move towards passkey authentication, there will be more incentive across the industry to adopt the new security standard. And it certainly seems as though these moves are accelerating. Apple and Google both added support to their web services earlier this year, and of course Apple launched full passkey support in its platforms in 2022.
- Slightly oddly, I was still asked to provide my two-factor authentication code after signing in with the passkey, a step that shouldn’t technically be necessary. ↩