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SMS replaced by QR codes

Google changes login method - increases security

Step by step, logging into Gmail and Google's other services is becoming more secure.

Erik Mörner
Published

There are a number of different ways to verify that you really are you when you log in to Gmail and other Google services. Securing your Gmail account is of great importance because email is used by many services today for secure login instead of passwords. Anyone who gains access to your email account can potentially quite easily access other accounts as well. 

A basic recommendation today is to use some form of two-factor verification. This means you have an extra layer of protection if your password were to go astray. The two-factor solution can consist, for example, of verifying your login on the computer with the phone where you are already logged in to the same account. This can happen with an app or via SMS. However, SMS is not ideal and now Google is working to introduce a more secure solution. Just like with Mobile Bank ID, Google plans to use QR codes. 

The introduction of this new technology will, according to a spokesperson for Google, be implemented in the coming months. As a user, you will scan the QR code with your mobile camera, reports Forbes, which is the site Google has reported this to. 

Like Google's previous transition to so-called passkeys for login, the QR codes contribute to increased security and can take advantage of the built-in security solutions available in your phone, such as fingerprints and secure facial recognition.

There is no more specific timeline for the transition than "in the coming months". 

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