Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
PC Gamer
PC Gamer
James Bentley

Today I learned Motorola was once developing a password pill that turns your body into an authentication token: 'We have demoed this working and authenticating a phone'

Richard Williams, President and CEO Chief Technical Officer for Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc. Pictures taken at Euan Barty Associates, Central. 30 March 2004.

Did you know that, for a brief few years, Motorola (or more accurately, Motorola Mobility) was owned by Google? If you didn't know that, then you likely also don't know that, in those two cursed years, Motorola showed off a password pill you swallow as a form of password authentication. Yeah, 2013 was weird.

As brought to my attention by Hackaday, this password pill would house a small chip that would dissolve in your stomach and emit an 18-bit ECG-style signal from your body. Regina Dugan, the then-research head at Motorola, said, "Essentially, your entire body becomes your authentication token."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.