Google Is Rolling Out a Video Selfie Feature If Your Account Has Been Blocked.
Being locked out of your Google account for any reason is a stressful situation, with all your email, documents, photos, and other data suddenly inaccessible. But now there’s a new way to verify your identity and regain access: a simple video selfie.
It’s always wise to have multiple login methods beyond your basic password and email address, as each additional method improves your chances of account recovery if problems arise. A good example is the Contact Recovery feature , where Google uses verified, trustworthy contacts to verify your identity.
You can now also use video selfies. Follow this link to check if this feature is available for your account and record a selfie using your webcam or phone camera. If you’re having trouble logging in, you can record a new selfie that will be compared to the original saved to your account.
The selfie video feature isn’t currently available for my account, so I wasn’t able to test it. It appears it will be rolling out gradually to users, though Google hasn’t provided any specific details about availability or a timeline—only that users can already check if their account is eligible for the feature.
“Your video selfie is yours and yours to control,” Google said in a blog post . “It’s recorded and securely stored with your consent, and you can delete it at any time in your Google account. It’s only used for signing in unless you choose to share it for other purposes. Your video selfie is encrypted at rest, meaning it’s securely stored even when not in use.”
These “additional purposes” mean Google will use your “video and related data to assist ongoing efforts to develop and improve facial recognition, age detection, and other verification methods that may use your physical features or movements” (the specter of age verification is back in the picture).
There’s also the rather obvious problem of deepfakes. Google claims to have a “multi-layered defense” against fake photos and videos, including requiring users to perform a few simple movements when taking selfies—movements that are difficult to predict and imitate with a deepfake.
All standard Google account verifications will also apply, so (for example) additional security questions may pop up if you suddenly try to sign in from the other side of the world where you don’t usually sign in.
Given the accuracy of modern technologies like Face ID, logging in with a video selfie should be a useful backup method for accessing your account. You don’t need to remember anything extra—just show your face—and it appears to be quite difficult to circumvent this restriction at the moment.