Passwordless login on Edge is about to be revamped with these newly-spotted flags

Passwordless login on Edge is getting better as FedCM support on Edge is being internally tested in Canary, the browser’s experimental channel. This means that it is not yet available to the public, but it is likely to be released shortly. A much safer password-less login method incoming?

FedCM (short for Federated Credential Management) is a privacy-preserving API that allows users to sign in to websites without having to share their passwords. This is different from the current system, where users have to create and remember passwords for each website they use or store them locally through Edge Password Manager.

Edge enthusiast @Leopeva64 has found a few flags related to FedCM on the experimental features page. These include a feature that allows a relying party (RP) to selectively request a set of identity attributes to be disclosed, a flag to enable the FedCM API when third-party cookies are disabled, and a flag to enable a JavaScript API to intermediate FedCM requests.

Not familiar with FedCM? Well, it allows websites to offer a more privacy-preserving way for users to sign in. It does this by allowing users to sign in using their existing accounts from identity providers (IdPs) such as Google, Microsoft, or Facebook, without having to share their personal information with the website.

Edge has its own password manager, but FedCM is a newer and more secure way to store passwords. This is especially important as we move towards the Privacy Sandbox, which will phase out support for third-party cookies. Plus, Edge is based on Google’s Chromium, so it makes sense that Microsoft would adopt it.