WWDC 2019: Apple offers a more secure sign in option over Facebook and Google

With the recent data breach surrounding Facebook, privacy has become a main concern for a lot of people. Apple believes that privacy is a fundamental human right and they want you to have total control over your personal info. If you want to detach yourself from Facebook and Google’s seamless sign-in process, Apple has introduced “Sign in with Apple”, a seamless sign-in option that, Apple says, puts privacy first.

This Apple sign-in feature is introduced with iOS 13 and it offers seamless access to your favourite apps and services. You can sign in quickly with either Face ID or Touch ID, and there’s also a two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security.

When you login or fill up a form with this feature, Apple will protect your identity by providing developers with a unique random ID. Even if the site or app requires your name and email address, you can decide whether to provide your actual email or hide it with a random email address instead.

What happens after that is pretty smart. Apple will generate a virtual email address for every single site or app you signed up for. Any email that’s sent to it will be forwarded to your actual email account. If you’re getting unwanted emails, you can identify the source and choose to disable the virtual email address.

As usual, Apple assures that they do not use “Sign-in with Apple” to profile users or their activities in apps. Overall, this is a pretty good move for privacy and Apple will also introduce the feature for website developers as well.

Related reading