Embodiments of methods and apparatus for tag-based personalization of kiosk computing devices are disclosed. In embodiments, an authentication server/system may receive, from a mobile device, a plurality data packets having data associated with a display tag of a kiosk computing device. The authentication system/server may, in response, instruct the kiosk to activate an account-specific mode based on an account associated with the mobile device. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.