Which web identity providers do you use?

[thorobasePA]

Note the one you use most often and are most comfortable with.

Feel free to describe any others you use too.

[chickenhead]

Google by far my most important login service.

[Robert Goren]

Google is the one I use the most because I have to. I really wish there was somebody else. I hate the way they keep track of your every move.

[CBedo]

All of the above except for Windows Live. Can't live without Google it seems these days, especially Google Voice.

Anyone else using Foursquare besides me? I currently just use it for fun and finding my friends, but I could seem some beefed up enterprise application of geolocation/microblogging.

[JustRalph]

Maybe it's just me.........

but I am always suspect of this kind of question on a public board

no offense to the thread starter.........but harvesting this info can be dangerous

There are several scenarios where this info should be kept private

[thorobasePA]

Maybe it's just me.........

but I am always suspect of this kind of question on a public board

no offense to the thread starter.........but harvesting this info can be dangerous

There are several scenarios where this info should be kept private

Hi JustRalph. No offense taken, it's commendable to approach this subject with wariness. Rather than be dismissive, or just to give an empty assurance of intentions, it would be best if I spell out potential risks (I'm an IT professional).

This poll is anonymous - I can't see who voted for what, plus this is a multiple choice poll so I can't even figure out the combinations of accounts they have. While a couple of posters have mentioned which providers they have accounts with, simply admitting to having a Google account is not very risky.

It does open them to some kind of social engineering as an attacker now can maybe associate a profile nickname and/or picture with similar identities across the web, but the vast minority of people don't actually fall for these approaches, and this poll's target is a very small population. These providers should never email/contact you looking for your login details or personal information, so don't give them out.

"Hacking" (or more accurately, "cracking") these provider accounts using code is a huge undertaking and very difficult (as detailed in the recent Google vs. China story).

I wanted to use this poll to find out which identify providers PA members prefer so that when I build demos on thorobase that I know which providers' login systems to support. Being able to log in with your Google etc account (rather than one I create myself) is good for both the user and me because:

* the user doesn't have to create another username/password combination on a new website, where they use the same values as on other websites (bad) and weak passwords (also bad)

* I don't have to worry about storing the user's password or making myself a potential target to attack

* the user trusts Google, I trust Google

Thanks, Robin