Google will switch to Two-Step Verification (2SV) by default

Google will start switching user accounts to Two-Step Verification (2SV) or Two-Factor Authentication by default in an attempt to increase security. This decision was announced by the company via a blog post.

The Director of Product Management, Identity and User Security at Google, Mark Risher, explains in the blog post that users try to make their passwords long and complicated in an attempt to make them more difficult to crack, however, the users end up using the same passwords on multiple accounts, which makes them less secure.

To overcome this hurdle, Google is going to switch all users to two-factor authentication soon “if their accounts are appropriately configured.”

Currently, the option to turn on 2SV is optional but soon Google is going to make this feature mandatory for all users. However, the search giant has not shared an exact date for this implementation to come into effect.

Furthermore, Google has also launched a new Password Import feature which will allow users to upload up to 1000 passwords at a time for free. ““Features like Password Import, Password Manager and Security Checkup — combined with authentication products like Sign-in with Google — reduce the spread of weak credentials,” Risher says in the blog post.

Like Apple, Google has also announced that it will make it mandatory for all apps on Google Play to declare how they use users’ data in order to provide transparency. The Developers will be required to list all the information that is collected from users through their apps and how that data is handled.

This is going to be a much welcomed step by the company, which has been often criticized for poor handling of user information and private data.

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