Selfie video: a secure, private, and convenient way to sign-in

We recently launched selfie video for sign-in -- a new, easy and secure way to sign in to your Google Account. Since then, many of you have asked for more details on how the technology works behind the scenes. We heard your feedback. As we continue to expand this feature globally, we want to share more details about why we developed this new option, how selfie video works for sign-in, and how our multilayered protections help keep your Google account secure against current and evolving threats, including deepfakes.

Why we launched selfie video

Sign-in has become faster and more secure thanks to passkeys. However, with the industry moving towards device-based authentication, users need reliable options to get back into their account if they lose access to the device that holds their passkeys. To help ensure the valuable information in your Google Account remains private, secure, and readily available, we offer a full suite of sign-in options - including passkeys, recovery contacts, recovery phones, recovery emails, and now selfie video - so users can choose what works best for them.

How selfie video works

Selfie video is designed to combine convenience and robust account security. At its core, the system performs secure face matching - comparing a preregistered reference video against a new real-time selfie video provided during sign-in.

• Enrollment: Selfie video is an additional sign-in option. If you decide to use this feature, we designed the enrollment experience to be as simple and accessible as possible across a wide range of devices. While signed in to your account, you record a short selfie video following simple on-screen prompts. Google systems verify the enrollment and, if everything looks good based on our strict guidelines, we encrypt and securely store your reference video on our servers.
• Face matching: When you later choose to use selfie video verification to sign-in, you record another selfie video. We use face-matching technology to securely compare this new selfie video to the one you previously saved, confirming this account belongs to you.
• Server-side processing: To help you get back into your account if you lose access to the device and the passkeys it holds, selfie video must work across devices. That is why we securely process and store your video on our servers, rather than on your device. This is in contrast to the facial recognition used to unlock your device, where data is strictly stored on your phone.
• Appearance adaptation: Our state-of-the-art face-matching models handle normal changes in your appearance over time (such as growing a beard or changing haircuts). If your appearance changes significantly, you can delete your saved selfie video and upload a new video at any time. We may periodically ask you to update your selfie video to ensure it remains up-to-date.

Selfie video prioritizes security

Security is baked into everything we do. To keep your Google Account secure, we use a multilayered approach that never relies on selfie video alone, evaluating it as one of many contextual signals.

As generative AI progresses, synthetic media and deepfakes present an evolving challenge. To keep sign-in secure, our face-matching technology is paired with our sign-in risk assessment engine and several key safeguards.

• Anti-spoofing defenses: Our system validates both the user and the device. To verify the user, our liveness models evaluate cues like subtle physical movements and visual artifacts to confirm the selfie video is recorded by a live person in real-time. Additionally, our synthetic media detection technology automatically detects and blocks AI-generated video. To verify the device, hardware-backed integrity signals on supported devices confirm the video comes directly from a physical camera, preventing digital injection attacks.
• Adaptive protections: Our sign-in systems evaluate a wide range of contextual signals to balance friction and security. When using a selfie video for sign-in, just like when using any other method, our risk engine can flag anomalous session signals and may trigger additional verification steps. To add a selfie video to an account, the user must already be signed in and have a trusted session. Deleting a selfie video from an account requires a mandatory re-authentication, similar to other sensitive account state changes.
• Security notifications: Real-time security alerts notify you immediately whenever a selfie video is enrolled, used for a new sign-in, or removed, ensuring you maintain complete visibility and control over your account at all times.

To ensure reliability against emerging challenges, we work closely with independent labs to certify these systems to the highest industry standards. Beyond our own platform, Google is pioneering synthetic media detection technologies like SynthID across the broader industry, demonstrating our commitment to combating synthetic manipulation at scale.

Selfie video is private by intent

Google’s commitment to user privacy extends to selfie video, which is designed from the ground up to meet Google’s policies and global privacy standards through strict data controls and security safeguards.

• Explicit consent and strict purpose limitation: Enrolling a selfie video is entirely voluntary. If you do choose to enroll, your video is used solely to confirm it's you during sign-in. Allowing Google to safely use your video to improve our verification technologies is a separate option.
• One-way matching: Our selfie-based account recovery system cannot find Google accounts based on a given selfie video. It can only check whether a sign-in selfie video for a given account matches the enrolled selfie video on the same account.
• Strong access safeguards: Your preregistered selfie video is encrypted at rest, securely retained and processed on our server-side systems, and handled strictly in accordance with Google's privacy policy.
• Controlled retention & deletability: You maintain control over your data. Selfie video is an additional option, and you can opt out and delete your selfie video from your account at any time, without affecting your Google Account. If you delete your account, your selfie video is deleted from Google servers as well.
• Ephemeral processing: The selfie video taken during sign-in is transient and permanently deleted immediately after the face matching is complete.

Choose the right sign-in options for you

We launched selfie video because device-independent access solutions are critical, especially for users who only rely on a single device. By combining advanced face-matching with our risk assessment engine and real-time alerts, selfie video delivers a secure way to sign-in, while keeping you in complete control of your data.

Accounts with more sign-in and recovery methods are far less likely to lose access. But account access and security aren't one-size-fits-all. We encourage you to choose the sign-in options that work best for you. While selfie video provides a convenient way to sign in for most, it isn't suited for every situation. For example, it may be restricted for younger users.

Finally, there are two broader security practices we want to emphasize. First, as a matter of general security hygiene, we recommend passkeys for all users. Second, we recommend adding an extra layer of protection: users at high risk of targeted attacks should enroll in the Advanced Protection Program, while everyone else should set up 2-Step Verification (2SV).