Proton Pass Adds Identities, Plus Biometric Authentication on Desktop

Proton announced a major update to Proton Pass that extends its password manager capabilities to include identity management. And for those on paid Proton Pass, the product is also getting biometric authentication support on the desktop, meaning Windows Hello in Windows and Touch ID in macOS.

“We built Proton Pass to be the first comprehensive identity manager that empowers you to fully control and protect the data that makes up your online presence,” Proton’s Son Nguyen Kim explains. “Identity management is one of our community’s most requested features, and today we’re happy to introduce Identities for Proton Pass.”

Identities are available to all Proton Pass users, including free users, and on all supported platforms. This feature lets you save your personal information–name, email address, phone number, birthdate, gender, address, social security number, passport number, driver’s license number, personal website address, social media profiles, occupation, company, job title, and, if you’re a paid user, anything else using custom fields–in a single location. You can create different identities for different purposes–work and home, perhaps, but also for other people like family members, friends, and coworkers–and share information with trusted contacts when needed.

All this information is stored using the same end-to-end encryption that Proton employs elsewhere in Proton Pass, of course. You can learn more about this functionality on the Proton Pass support site.

As for biometric authentication, Proton Pass already supports this capability on mobile, but now it’s available to paid users on desktop–Windows and Mac–as well. Now, you can use Windows Hello facial or fingerprint recognition on Windows, or Touch ID fingerprint recognition on the Mac, to authenticate with Proton Pass more quickly and seamlessly.

“As a login method, biometric password authentication is simple and safe,” Kim explains. “Biometrics are unique to every person, and they’re difficult to steal or replicate, making them a secure login option. They’re also very convenient. They don’t require repeatedly entering long passwords, and they’re easy to use no matter your level of comfort with tech.”

This addition removes my only minor issue with Proton Pass, which I otherwise have liked quite a bit: Now, you can authenticate with the service using passwordless methods everywhere, and at all times. I will enable this feature immediately on each of my PCs.

You can learn more about Proton Pass on the Proton website.