Google Assistant’s automatic password updater is getting broader adoption

A Google Assistant feature to automate the time-consuming process of changing your passwords after a breach appears to be getting wider adoption. This emerges from a tweet from Leaker Max Weinbach and a report from Android Police.

One of Weinbach’s screenshots shows a dialog box warning that Chrome on Android has detected that a used password has been breached and offers an option to “Change it automatically.” The second contains a confirmation box that prompts the user to agree to “Let the Google Assistant help you change your password.”

The Google Assistant feature was announced at Google I/O last year. It only works on supported websites, but where possible the idea is to automate as much of the password changing process as possible. When triggered, the wizard takes you straight to the correct page to change your password and uses Chrome’s built-in password manager to generate and then save new credentials.

Android Police points out that there is also an option to manually check if your Chrome-saved passwords have been compromised. The “Check passwords” option is available in the “Passwords” submenu in the browser settings. If a compromised password is found, a “Change Password” button will appear and a Google Assistant logo will appear if there is an option to change it automatically.

The security feature is based on Google’s “Duplex on the Web” technology, which is designed to quickly perform tasks such as buying movie tickets, checking in for flights or ordering food. It does this by automating the more routine parts of the process, like scrolling, clicking through multiple pages, and filling out forms. 9to5Google notes that password automation appears to have been phased in since last November, when “some users” were granted access.

The ability to automatically change compromised passwords has been offered by password managers like LastPass and Dashlane in the past. But considering how many people default to the password manager built into their browser, Google’s feature could have a much wider reach when it’s rolled out.

We contacted Google to confirm the scope of the rollout.