Google has released the Android API of its reCAPTCHA technology, so developers can implement security services for users on mobile devices, and provide them with a streamlined user experience.
Google’s “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” initiative, more commonly known as CAPTCHA, has been providing security services to many websites for several years now. Distinguishing human users from robots, the technology has improved quite a lot over the years. Now, Google has released its Android API so that mobile users can also benefit from its services.
CAPTCHA initially relied on the inability of the robots to decipher distorted text. But with advancement in technology, robots learned to solve even the hardest CAPTCHA codes with alarming accuracy. So CAPTCHA evolved, beginning from twisted and distorted text to street numbers, names, and then to «No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA», where users only needed to click on a check box. A few months ago, Google introduced «Invisible reCAPTCHA», which can autonomously attest the validity of a user.
With this API, developers will be able to provide a more streamlined experience to mobile devices’ users. Google’s «Invisible reCAPTCHA» technology will also enable risk analysis algorithms to run in the background, allowing users to stay clear of spam without having them interact with any sort of validation method.
The API is included in Google’s SafetyNet API package. It will enable developers to perform both device and user attestation with the same API, allowing for more efficient means to reduce security risks.
Source: Google
