Google's 'open sesame' login ditches passwords

Google has tested a new method for users to gain access to their accounts by using a trusted device to verify the login request.

In Google's recent experiment, a QR code scanned by a phone leads to this login page. Image credit: Michael Lee/ZDNet Australia

Although Google has not yet announced the feature's official name, it has been dubbed 'Sesame' by many due to its URL, which Google most likely picked in a reference to the phrase, "Open sesame". The experiment, which has now ended, required users to have a Google account, a mobile device that was already logged in to their account, a QR code reader and, of course, a computer into which that they wanted to log in.

Navigating to https://accounts.google.com/sesame presented users with nothing more than a QR code, which expired after a few minutes. After scanning it on a mobile device and navigating to the URL contained within it, users were asked on their mobile device whether they wanted to give the computer access to their account.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Open sesame: Google's no-password log-in on ZDNet Australia.