Implications of the Use of Emojis in Mobile Authentication

Authors: 

Lydia Kraus and Robert Schmidt, Technische Universität Berlin; Marcel Walch, Ulm University; Florian Schaub, Carnegie Mellon University; Christopher Krügelstein and Sebastian Möller, Technische Universität Berlin

Abstract: 

The use of Emojis has been proposed for use in mobile authentication. Emojis are small icons, e.g., smileys or objects, that are often used in digital communication to express emotions. Our interest lies in better understanding the implications of Emoji-based passwords. Can they potentially enhance the user experience of knowledge-based authentication or is their use just a gimmick? In the following, we reflect on the implications of using Emojis to create a positive mobile authentication experience for users. We further present the results of a user study for which we developed a study artifact named EmojiAuth.

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