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Google Is Making A Convenient Change To Play Store Purchases

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR

Google has announced a small but handy change to the Play Store's biometric verification feature for purchases.

You'll no longer be required to enter your account password when setting up the feature for the first time.

Google has offered biometric support for the Play Store for almost 10 years now, allowing you to use your fingerprint, face, or another form of biometrics to approve purchases. Fortunately, the company is making a tweak to this functionality in the name of convenience.

Google sent an email to users (including ourselves) confirming that you won't need to enter your Google account password after first setting up biometric verification for purchases on the Play Store.

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

The company also urged users to enable biometric verification for every purchase on the Play Store (as opposed to only requiring verification every 30 minutes).

Either way, this change isn't something you'd benefit from every day. But it'll still be handy for those times when you upgrade to a new phone, allowing you to quickly get biometric verification up and running for app store purchases.

Not seeing the change just yet? Well, the tech giant notes that this change will take place in the "coming weeks." So you might have to wait a short while to see it on your end.

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New Google Play Biometrics Warning Issued To All Android Users

Google Play users warned of biometric verification change

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Google is sending emails to users notifying them about upcoming changes to the security settings for purchase verification on mobile devices. These changes will be implemented in the coming weeks and aim to enhance the security of Google Play purchases. The changes follow a recent verification update for Google Wallet users. Within that email, though, is a warning for all users looking to verify purchases using biometrics on their smartphone.

04/20 update below. This article was originally published on April 18.

ForbesGmail And YouTube Hackers Bypass Google's 2FA Account SecurityBy Davey Winder Google Makes Changes To Google Play Biometric Verification

On the afternoon of April 18, I received an email from Google informing me that it's possible to configure Google Play purchase verification to use biometrics on suitably equipped smartphones. "If you set biometrics," the email stated, "it means that you'll be asked to verify that it's you with biometrics each time that you make a purchase through Google Play."

Google Play warns users of biometric device over-sharing

Google/Davey Winder

These settings, Google said, "only apply to purchases made through Google Play's billing system." When enabling the purchase verification biometric option, your Google Account password will no longer be required to confirm the configuration change. Instead, your fingerprint or face will be used.

Use Caution If Your Kids Have Their Fingerprints On Your Phone

This new Google Play email warns that the changes will be rolling out in the coming weeks and that Android owners should use caution if storing biometrics of children or others on their devices. "If you share your device and choose biometrics as your verification method," Google said, "ensure that you're comfortable with all biometrics stored on your device being used for verification." Otherwise you could be leaving the door open for anyone with those fingerprints or faces stored on your phone being able to pass purchase verification protections.

Google Wallet Gets More Like Apple With Tap-To-Pay

This follows recent news reports that new security settings for Google Wallet will also enable biometric verification as a requirement for every purchase. The verify it's you alert will also pop-up if using Wallet three minutes after you unlock your device. This will sound familiar to iPhone users as Apple Pay requires authentication before any tap-to-pay transaction. Android users will be able disable verification when using the default transit card, even if the phone is locked.

Transit cards can skip verification

Google/Davey Winder ForbesNew Gmail & M365 Warning As 2FA Security Bypass Hack ConfirmedBy Davey Winder

04/20 update: As technology companies such as Google continue to push towards primary biometric authentication, we must ask ourselves whether the general public is truly comfortable with this approach. While some may be biased towards biometrics because of the benefits they bring over traditional passwords, we must also consider other factors. Biometrics are often used as a second factor in authentication, with our devices relying on our faces or fingerprints to grant access. However, just because we may be content to use biometrics to unlock our smartphones, this does not necessarily mean we want to use them for other purposes, such as logging into our bank accounts or making purchases online. It's crucial that we examine the statistics to determine how consumers truly feel about biometric authentication.

A 2016 YouGov survey of adults in the U.S. Found that 58% preferred passwords over fingerprints or facial recognition. Fast-forward to now and when NordVPN asked U.K. And U.S. Residents about their biometric usage it found "50% of U.S. Respondents still use at least one biometric technology (fingerprint, face, or eye scan) daily." What's more 29% don't use any biometric technology at all. All of this tends to suggest there's still a way to go to convince the average user of the security benefits biometrics can bring.

Google On Play Store Safety And Security Measures In 2023

Google today highlighted how the Play Store "fought bad apps and bad actors" in 2023 through a mix of new technical advances and policy updates.

In terms of stats, Google Play last year "prevented 2.28 million policy-violating apps from being published "through a mix of "new and improved" security features, "advanced machine learning and app review processes," and policy updates. Notable stats include: Google banned "333K bad accounts from Play for violations like confirmed malware and repeated severe policy violations." Google is requiring developers to provide more information when creating Play accounts.  "almost 200K app submissions were rejected or remediated to ensure proper use of sensitive permissions such as background location or SMS access." "To help safeguard user privacy at scale, we partnered with SDK providers to limit sensitive data access and sharing, enhancing the privacy posture for over 31 SDKs impacting 790K+ apps. We also significantly expanded the Google Play SDK Index, which now covers the SDKs used in almost 6 million apps across the Android ecosystem." Of note is how Google Play made 1.5 million old applications that "do not target the most recent APIs" unavailable to "new users who have updated their devices to the latest Android version." Google Play Protect's real-time, code-level scanning to "combat novel malicious apps" that are sideloaded has "detected over 5 million new, malicious off-Play apps." Other use-facing changes in the Data safety section include how Google in 2023 started highlighting VPN apps that have undergone an "independent security review." Additionally, developers must provide an option to delete application accounts and user data online so that you don't have to reinstall an app to do so.  The App Defense Alliance (ADA) was restructured under the Joint Development Foundation, which is part of the Linux Foundation family, with Microsoft and Meta joining the steering committee.  The Alliance will support industry-wide adoption of app security best practices and guidelines, as well as countermeasures against emerging security risks. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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