Google joined the OpenID Foundation in 2008, which provides free technology to eliminate the need for multiple user names across the web by using an OpenID.
In late July, Eric Sachs a Product Manager for the Google Security team and the counterpart to Google’s CIO, registered the domain names AccountChooser.com and AccountChooser.net.
Google’s Internet Identity Research team has been busy working on this project for months.
This week, the Account Chooser web site quietly went live, as shown in the picture above. Account Chooser, is an industry technique to improve the user experience for logging into a website.
“An open standard and user interface guidelines for the next generation of web sign in”, reads the slogan printed across the top of the home page.
According to a blog posted on OpenID’s website this week, “Account Chooser” will be introducted at the “Connect Tech” Summit being held September 12-13, 2011.
Discussion: TechCrunch and Y Combinator
2 replies on “Google unveils AccountChooser.com: Next-gen web sign in with OpenID”
[…] The Account Chooser website, which went live rather quietly, was first spotted by Fusible. […]
I have a personal view that the lack of a novice-friendly (but choice-supporting) solution to authentication on the web is one of the OpenID Foundation’s greatest opportunities to move OpenID as a technology, a brand and as a concept forward. The vision, the technology and the Foundation behind OpenID is more than just the underlying protocol, but a notion that people should be able to choose who represents them online. It helps solve the NASCAR problem.
The OIDF Board’s consideration of Google’s contribution of the rights and interests associated with “Account Chooser” has begun with a clarification and broadening of OIDF members and other implementers’ IPR rights associated with Account Chooser.
Google’s contribution of its Account Chooser IP to the Foundation is consistent with the OIDF’s mission to standardize the experience of choosing who represents you online, and a open source/open web approach to OpenID adoption in the identity ecosystem. In this way Account Chooser enables even more innovation in the online identity industry. That the OpenID Account Chooser from the start is open source code makes it easier to implement a global, standard login experience.
The draft charter of the Account Chooser Working Group is posted at https://sites.google.com/site/oauthgoog/workinggroupcharter