Google has introduced a new Selfie Video account recovery feature designed to help users regain access to their accounts when standard recovery methods are unavailable.
The feature uses a combination of liveness detection and deepfake detection to verify a user’s identity through a short live video recording, providing an additional safeguard against account theft and AI-generated impersonation attempts.
The new recovery option is intended for situations where users lose access to their devices, forget their passwords or are unable to use their registered recovery email addresses.
Instead of relying on a static selfie, users are asked to record a brief video while performing specific head movements. Google says the process helps confirm that a real person, rather than a manipulated image or deepfake, is attempting to recover the account.
The company said the Selfie Video feature is designed as an emergency recovery option and is not intended to replace existing security measures such as passkeys, passwords or two-factor authentication (2FA).
Google described the feature as a last-resort biometric backup aimed at improving account security while reducing the risk of fraudulent recovery attempts.