What is OpenID?

Many websites in the internet require signing up for using their information. When you sign up you will be given a username and password which uniquely identifies you in the web server. As you come across many such websites you will be signing up with them and at last you will be left with a bunch of usernames and passwords. These identities are difficult to remember as their number increases. To eliminate these hazards the open source community proposed openID.

OpenID is a method that is used to identify specific individuals and this identification strategy used the same technology framework that is used by the websites to identify the individual. With the openID the usernames and passwords that are to be remembered by a web user is significantly reduces. By obtaining an openID, the user can use the same in many websites to prove his identity. OpenID is great for users as they need not remember many usernames and passwords. For business websites, the storage and manipulation of a large number of usernames is eliminated.

To obtain an openID you have to choose an openID provider that can be trusted and provides flexibility to meet all your needs. OpenID technology is free and not proprietary. Even when you change the provider your openID remains the same.

You can use openID in the websites that supports this. OpenID exploits the fact that the same user already has all his information in some part of the web such as a blog, profile page etc. This information can be accessed from the URL and can be used in other websites.

OpenID works in a simple way. You need to enter your openID in the login form in the website you are trying to sign up. This is called the relying party. The openID that you provide will be converted into URL canonical form by the relying party. This URL website will then be requested by the relying party to send your information. You will then be asked by your openID provider whether or not you want to share your information with the relying party. When you approve the request your information will be provided to the relying party and you will succeed in signing up. If you deny the sharing then you will not be able to sign up with the relying party website.

The main advantage of internet which is the sharing of information is exploited by the openID technology to sign up with different websites with a single openID. OpenID is free and it is not owned by anybody else. Nobody will own openID as the main aim is to eliminate frustration with the user. Many large companies like AOL, Microsoft, Sun and Novell have accepted this open source technology and they have become openID providers.

The downside is that anybody who has access to your openID secret information can get access to other websites under your identity. This is a serious security threat that is gaining more attention by the openID foundation. The safety of the identity lies in the openID provider. It becomes the responsibility of the user to choose the most trusted openID provider to secure his information.