An approach is provided for authenticating a user. A request to authenticate the user is received. Historical data that includes social media interactions that specify a person authorized to access the device and geolocations of the person is polled. A question is generated to be relevant to a social media interaction and/or a geolocation included in the historical data. A digital representation of a voice of the user who provided an answer to the question is received. The voice of the user is verified as matching a voice of the person authorized to access the device. The answer is determined to be correct. Based on the matching voices and the answer being correct, the user is authenticated and access to the device by the user is granted.