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I don't like passkeys

853 points · 819 comments · ethanhawksley

  1. kenrick95 · · focus · HN ↗
    Passkeys have a marketing problem where no one is able to describe simply what it is without having to use technical jargon. There's also the problem where each OS tries too hard in pushing this to the face of end-user
    1. etatester · · focus · HN ↗
      It's a key, what else do non-technical people need to know?

      Ironically on macOS we used to have an app called Keychain which unfortunately was effectively renamed to Passwords for non-technical users.

      1. paulryanrogers · · focus · HN ↗
        It's a digital key.

        Unlike physical objects they may reside in a TPM, a software vault, an export/backup, or any combination thereof. You may or may not be able to recover or migrate them, depending on where/how they were made.

        Therefore you may need multiple per service, or maybe not. Services which only allow one may end up locking you out with no recourse. You get to find out.

        None of this is obvious or self explanatory to normies.

        1. etatester · · focus · HN ↗
          That&#x27;s false. It&#x27;s a digital key and it doesn&#x27;t matter where it&#x27;s stored. My key is on iCloud and it can be unlocked with my many recovery methods and contacts <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;102641" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;102641

          As for normies, passkeys or passwords it doesn&#x27;t make a difference. Either you have people who use love1969 everywhere or those who constantly lose their passwords.

          All passkeys accounts for normies require an email or phone number, which is what you can use to recover a password or passkey exactly the same way.

          1. paulryanrogers · · focus · HN ↗
            Where passkeys are stored is as important as where physical keys are stored
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