I agree that we should be careful about how we use passkeys, but I don’t think “do not use them” is valid advice.
This article only convinces me that a company like Netflix could support passkeys in a non-restrictive form (unattested, copyable, etc) and then ratchet up restrictions slowly as adoption increases. But this is really the same game we play with all other dark patterns like price hikes, pay-to-still-watch-ads, user tracking, etc. The savvy will realize quickly that enshittification is happening, and they will seek alternatives.
To me, this is not adequate justification for boycotting the entire passkey technology. I find them convenient, and I use them in my own homelab identity provider. Only a handful of the services I use even support them properly yet, but I wish more did.
I agree that we should be careful about how we use passkeys, but I don’t think “do not use them” is valid advice.
This article only convinces me that a company like Netflix could support passkeys in a non-restrictive form (unattested, copyable, etc) and then ratchet up restrictions slowly as adoption increases. But this is really the same game we play with all other dark patterns like price hikes, pay-to-still-watch-ads, user tracking, etc. The savvy will realize quickly that enshittification is happening, and they will seek alternatives.
To me, this is not adequate justification for boycotting the entire passkey technology. I find them convenient, and I use them in my own homelab identity provider. Only a handful of the services I use even support them properly yet, but I wish more did.