[OpenID] Requiring Pseudonymous Identifier

[Martin Atkins]

SitG Admin wrote:
>> The OpenID spec is written with one user controlling an identifier in 
>> mind.  RPs all over the world are making that assumption.  If an 
>> shared "group" identifier is ever used to log into any of these RPs, 
>> then people may be unwittingly sharing their data with a large group 
>> of people.
> 
> Then, am I out of spec for offering a dedicated OP where the *users* do 
> NOT control the identifier; they merely use 
> 'shadowsinthegarden.com/everyone' to log in with the ACL permitted to 
> everyone?
> 

You are not out of spec, but that violates assumptions that are made by 
many relying parties.

My concern about this conflating of the concept of users and groups is 
that it seems very similar to the idea of multiple users sharing an 
account by sharing the password. For example, the typical case of a 
manager sharing passwords with a secretary to allow the secretary to do 
things on behalf of the manager.

This has, in a number of cases, lead to an abstraction inversion where 
multiple people sharing the same account has lead to applications 
implementing accounts within accounts so that the individual users of 
that account can still be treated as distinct parties by the 
application. Consider the "Identities" feature in Microsoft's Outlook 
Express or Netscape/Mozilla products, for example.