whynopasskeys.com Shames Instagram, Netflix, Spotify
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- Scott Helme launched whynopasskeys.com, writing that "a list is a surprisingly effective motivator" to pressure companies into adopting passkey authentication
- Instagram, Netflix, and Spotify are among the roughly one in four major apps and services that still don't offer passkeys to users, according to the site
- Passkeys are device-generated credentials tied to a specific phone or computer, rely on biometrics like Face ID or Touch ID, and are far harder to steal or phish without physical device access
- Apple, Google, and Microsoft already offer passkeys and land on the site's "good side" list, setting the baseline the holdouts are measured against
- Instagram technically supports passkeys, but only when the account is linked to a Facebook account that already has passkey enabled — a constraint Helme's list does not credit
- Meta, Netflix, and Spotify did not respond to TechCrunch's requests for comment on why their products lack passkey support
Why it matters: The pressure tactic targets real user-facing security gaps — companies like Netflix and Instagram hold credentials for hundreds of millions of accounts, and Helme's naming-and-shaming approach weaponizes reputational risk to force adoption. With Apple, Google, and Microsoft already on board, holdouts now face public exposure as laggards in a standard their peers have embraced.
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