We’ve switched to OpenID
What is OpenID?
OpenID is a system that lets you have one login name you use on any website that supports OpenID. The easiest way to think about it is like Microsoft’s Passport service that lets you sign in to any Microsoft web property using the one account.
There’s a couple of cool things about OpenID that we really like. The first is you don’t have to remember all those different username and passwords, you just have the one username and password with your OpenID account. The other thing we love is that it reduces the information you have to give websites - because of the switch we don’t need to maintain passwords, email addresses or secret questions and answers. That’s less information for you to enter when you register and it’s less information for you to manage.
The other thing we love about OpenID is that you’ve almost definitely got one already. Some really huge names are behind the push to get OpenID out there - anyone using Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, WordPress, Blogger or Smugmug already has an OpenID! For the 27 people in the world who aren’t using those services you can create one at myopenid.com very easily, which you can then use on the websites that supports OpenID. Like we do now!
Yahoo has probaby the best plain English description of OpenID I’ve seen. So here it is verbatim:
Are you tired of creating a new account on every website you use? Do you avoid new websites because they come with yet another username and password? Do you paste stickies with password hints all over your computer monitor?
OpenID is an open technology standard that solves all of these problems. The OpenID technology will allow you to use your Yahoo! account to sign in to hundreds of websites! And this list is growing every day…
Once you enable your Yahoo! account for OpenID access, you can simply tell any OpenID enabled website that you are a Yahoo! user. You will be sent to Yahoo! to verify your Yahoo! ID and password and then signed in to the website. Its that easy!
What does this mean for our awesome users?
The first thing you’ll notice is the sign in page is very different now. There’s a link to the old sign in page that will let you continue logging in with your username and password. When you sign in you’ll notice a message saying you’re going to have to associate an OpenID account with your Sift’d account at some stage. There’s really no hurry on that, we said by the end of July but we’ll keep providing the old authentication route until it’s no longer required.
When you associate your OpenID account we remove the old information we don’t need anymore. That means we stop holding that password you use for everything from internet banking to eBay. For the record that information was encrypted anyway.
What does this mean for new users?
It means registering just got easier. You enter your OpenID, when you get back from authenticating at your provider all we ask for is a username, your date of birth and country. Just three little pieces of information which you can control access to (except your username) via your privacy settings in Account > Privacy.
What does this mean for Sift’d?
It means one day we can delete THREE fields from our database and SIX stored procedures. Basically we all win!
We think OpenID is just a fantastic idea and with the giants of the internet stepping in as identity providers it’s up to the little guys to take the plunge and become relying parties (that means you use your identity with us). The more websites that support OpenID - and there are tens of thousands already - the easier our lives as users will be.
I for one look forward to the day where I don’t have to remember usernames and passwords for the sites and services I use. Especially when I have to have numbers and letters tacked on to my username because someone beat me to it.
