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Google will now take you through your privacy settings step-by-step
Google has introduced a handful of new security measures as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, starting with a risk assessment feature that requires JavaScript to run. In case you've disabled JavaScript on your browser in the past, Google wouldn't be able to sign you in -- you'll be required to turn it on if you want to access your account. The big G has also leveled up its Security Checkup feature, so that once you've signed in, it will ask you to delete any apps it thinks is harmful and to cut off any devices you don't use anymore.
Google lets developers sell in-app purchases through Assistant
Google has taken steps recently to make its voice-controlled Assistant easier to use, and now it's rolling out features to developers to help them integrate the same levels of intuition into their apps. Launching today is support for digital goods and subscriptions, plus Google Sign-In, which will give users a seamless path for voice-controlled purchases. In other words, you'll be able to buy app upgrades, expansion packs or new levels while in conversation with Assistant, without having to transition into touch.
Facebook's Account Kit signs you in with a phone number
Twitter isn't the only big social network that wants you to ditch the password. Facebook is using its F8 conference to unveil Account Kit, a framework that lets you sign into apps using a phone number or email address. You won't need a Facebook account just to get into that music store or messaging service; you just have to acknowledge a confirmation message (either by email or SMS) to get your foot in the door. The feature is useful worldwide, but it's particularly crucial in developing regions, where having a Facebook account is far from guaranteed.
Sign into Netflix straight from your Google account
You've been able to sign into third-party websites with your Google credentials for years, but now the company is broadening out the places that info can take you. On its Developer Blog, the outfit is talking up its new Identity Platform, a suite of developer tools that let others build "frictionless" entry to name-brand sites via the Smart Lock password manager. The biggest name on the list of early partners is Netflix, which will now let viewers keep watching on their Android devices without having to re-enter their subscription details.
Amazon announces new 'Login with Amazon' service for apps, games and websites (video)
In an effort to reducing keyboard wear-and-tear, Amazon is opening up its own login service to both app developers and websites. Login With Amazon taps into your account credentials to login, with the ability to even share parts of your profile through apps, games and sites. It uses the retailer's existing trusted sign-in security and has already been tested on both Zappos and Woot, with both trials apparently noting "significant" pickup from customers. The service is free to use and if you're thinking of adding it to your own site (and tapping into those 200 million registered Amazon users), you can find all the technical details at the source -- or a gentler explanation in a video after the break.
Mozilla Persona sign-in launches in beta, skips the social networking ball and chain (video)
We all know those web pages where the only alternative to a site-specific login is a social networking account. That's not very reassuring for anyone skittish about linking their commentary to a Facebook account relatives might see, if they're even willing to join a social network in the first place. Mozilla has been aware of that hesitation long enough to have just released its long-in-development Persona sign-in service as a beta. Although it has the same kind of simple approach to a login as a Facebook or Twitter pop-up window, Persona's emphasis is on privacy: it stops paying attention the moment credentials go through, keeping any diatribes or subscription details from landing in social streams or central databases. Users don't have to play a rousing game of guess-the-username, either, as they just need to sign in with one or more familiar e-mail addresses and a single password. Persona faces an uphill battle in getting web developer adoption when the establishment sign-in services are open to hundreds of millions of internet citizens, but it does have The Times' online crossword section, OpenPhoto and Voost as early poster children -- and anything that lets the privacy-minded join the party has our vote.
