Discovery of an OpenID session at an OP

Chris Messina chris.messina at gmail.com
Mon Dec 14 15:27:26 UTC 2009


The biggest issue with this idea is the limitation of choice for the  
user -- as well as transparency into what's going on.

That is, it may well work fine if you want to use a well known  
provider like Google or Yahoo, but it will fail if you want to use a  
custom OpenID.

Indeed, in the discussions we've had, have the client hint to the RP  
which OP the user prefers seems like the most plausible way going  
forward.

Additionally, if RPs add discoverable endpoints for registration/ 
authentication/authorization/sign out, then the browser or other  
advanced client could deal with these interactions with a mire  
pleasant, forgiving, and appropriate UI.

Chris

Sent from my iPhone 2G

On Dec 14, 2009, at 4:22, Chris Obdam <chris.obdam at holder.nl> wrote:

> Aaahhh. That's nice!
>
> Wondering how other people think about this subject!
> Where can I find more info on this subject, perhaps previous  
> discussions?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
>
>
> Op 14 dec 2009, om 12:21 heeft David Recordon het volgende geschreven:
>
>> Hey Chris,
>> Check out Google's openid.ui.x-has-session parameter, it lets your
>> discover if a user has an active session with Google.  This hasn't
>> really been used yet, but there's a general consensus to roll this
>> sort of functionality into the UX extension once a few RPs and OPs
>> have shown that it works.
>>
>> --David
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 12:48 AM, Chris Obdam  
>> <chris.obdam at holder.nl> wrote:
>>> Hi all (again ;-)),
>>>
>>> I have implemented OpenID with quite a lot RP's now. Each time I  
>>> struggle with the UX. Yes it is becoming more and more effective  
>>> but it's not there yet.
>>>
>>> What I would like to offer to my user is automatic discovery of  
>>> OpenID sessions at the OP. I am already logged in at Google, Hyves  
>>> (large dutch Social Network), Yahoo and others. But each time I  
>>> have to select on of those out of a set of OP's which I don't use.
>>>
>>> When I enter a RP, the RP could do a redirect to a OP (in an  
>>> iframe for example) and ask if the OP has a logged in user. This  
>>> could be a simple anonymous request which returns a true or false.  
>>> If true the UX can be different, you know there is a session so  
>>> you could automatically start a OpenID transaction for the user.  
>>> The end user only needs to confirm usages of their data (normal  
>>> first step OpenID).
>>>
>>> The RP can decide for it self which OP's to check automatically.
>>>
>>> Of course we need to make sure that the end user still has a  
>>> choice in using his own OP. But know the RP knows that this  
>>> (anonymous) user has an OpenID or not, and if so, where.
>>>
>>> Yes, this means an extra load on the OP's, but I hope they don't  
>>> mind. If you supply this service as an Op it means that your users  
>>> will be using their indentity a bit more on other websites,  
>>> hopefully. Which is a big +. (Maybe Allen Tom can react on this  
>>> one? ;-))
>>>
>>> I think there a no real privacy issues with this idea? Ok, you  
>>> know from this anonymous user that he or she has an OpenID with  
>>> XXX, but is that a bad thing?
>>>
>>> Hope to get some comments on my thoughts!
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Chris
>>> OpenID Holland
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>>> specs mailing list
>>> specs at lists.openid.net
>>> http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs
>>>
>
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