Take back your digital ID

Posted January 17th, 2008 at 5:00 am by Scott Kveton, Chairman of the Board of Directors, OpenID Foundation

 12 Comments / Filed in: Guest Opinions, Trends & News

Ask just about anybody that’s used the Internet and they’ll most likely agree; I have too many accounts to keep track of. Not only do I have to keep track of my username and password for every site, I usually have to go through the same find-my-friends dance for the places I go as well. There’s got to be a better way to define who I am on the web.

When I first started searching for a solution to this problem I looked long and hard at what was out there already. That’s when I found OpenID. Over the past 5 years I’ve been active in the world of open source and identity and as the current Chairman of the Board of Directors for the OpenID Foundation, we’ve been working hard to make the web a more “open” place. OpenID is an open technology (developed much in the same way that Mozilla’s Firefox or the Linux kernel is) that has been built by an amazing group of individuals. The goal was simple; create something that allows users to quickly and easily login to any site with just one username and password.

Today’s announcement by Yahoo! supporting OpenID is the realization of three years of hard work from this extremely passionate community of developers. I have never met a more committed set of people focused on doing “the right thing” all the time. In the coming months, the community will continue to formalize around the OpenID Foundation. It’s the home of OpenID and a place for this community to thrive.

Yahoo! has really made a big leap with the support of OpenID. More than just supporting another open protocol, they are embracing the concepts around the open web; the idea that users not only own their data but that they should be in complete control of their digital identities. Traditionally this has been a difficult concept for companies, sites and users to grasp. The ever-changing reality is that not only is this good for users, its just plain good for business.

I couldn’t be more excited to see this happen and it’s going to open a door of opportunity for users and developers alike. We’re already seeing innovative ways to secure your identity, communicate and even engage in the political discourse. We’re only scratching the surface on what OpenID is going to enable as a key component of the open web.

I know we don’t have all of the answers to how this will all play out. Today is another step forward in the long walk to a better experience for the user. One thing is for sure; the best is yet to come.

Scott Kveton
Chairman of the Board of Directors
OpenID Foundation

Post a Comment Bookmark This Digg This

12 Comments Add your own

gag | January 17th, 2008 at 8:39 am

so many websites, blogs, and apps
openid seems interesting

Deepanjan | January 17th, 2008 at 9:10 am

Just what I wanted! As simple as that!

Todd | January 17th, 2008 at 9:34 am

I want to thank everyone at Yahoo so much for this! We’re on our way to a better web, let’s keep the momentum going!

Luke Sontag | January 17th, 2008 at 10:35 am

When Yahoo is ready to SECURE all those new OpenID’s & generate a significant amount of revenue. Contact me directly.

-Luke Sontag

blog.vidoop.com

Jean | January 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am

I agree WHOLLY with Deepanjan - of all things I wished for, I wanted THIS the most! Now I’ve got it - lovely!

Jason Kolb | January 17th, 2008 at 11:17 am

Congratulations Scott, this is a great win for OpenID!

Asatru Gothar | January 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

This seems more scary big brother 1984 than anything I might find useful. I find the fact that Yahoo has lied to users on several occasions reason enough to distrust you now. Yahoo claimed it was bringing back user chat rooms which it never did and apparently the only people who think Yahoo’s chat experience is a good one now are the employees at Yahoo. You also said 360 would work fine until your transition until whatever this new mess is takes effect but then you stopped supporting it and everyone has had problems for months while you play around with this big brother thing. I’ve been with Yahoo since 1997 and frankly I’ve been spending most of my online time somewhere else recently, a lot of people are.

I’m tired of the sugar coated B.S.

Make something work!

anon8mizer | January 18th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

It was not clear to me if Yahoo will be accepting third party OpenIDs for logging into Yahoo? When will that happen?

Show us your Bajaj | January 23rd, 2008 at 7:22 am

OpenID rocks

kelly | February 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am

What is going on with yahoo? “WHY” would you want to sell your, or! should I say “OUR” company? that would mean. they can use, and see our personal info, any time they want!and agree to there!”TERMS” leave the 3rd. party out!! haven’t you heard three is a crowd….. don’t sell. and leave it alone. “no” microsoft…….

teresa | February 8th, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Yahoo board to meet next week on bid: report

don’t sell- you are opening pandora’s box-they are trying to take over the world-research it -your yahoo

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/47530.php

http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/network.ownership.html

http://www.illuminati-news.com/moriah.htm

I’m sure it will be rejected cuz they probably already control you

Joe Perrone | February 8th, 2008 at 8:44 pm

How does one become an editor for Yahoo? I am so tired of headlines like “Pelicans could get off endangered list” that I could scream. It should have read: Pelicans may be removed from endangered list. This is just one example of the poor editing found on your website(s). Sorry, I just needed to vent.