Chicago (IL) – Facebook has confirmed that it is poised to enable OpenID. The new feature will allow users to login with an OpenID account from multiple providers, including Google, Yahoo, AOL and MySpace.
“We believe that the majority of the sharing that’s going to happen in the world isn’t going to be on any one site,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told InsideFacebook.com. “That’s why building a platform and having it be interoperable is important for the Web developers and for us strategically.”
Facebook developer Luke Shepard expressed similar sentiments.
“We’ve always let our users express their real world connections. From the beginning, Facebook users could use their college and workplace identities to establish real world networks,” said Shepard. “Now, users can register for Facebook using their Gmail accounts. Existing and new users can link their Facebook accounts with their Gmail accounts or with accounts from those OpenID providers that support automatic login. Once a user links his or her account with a Gmail address or an OpenID URL, logs in to that account, then goes to Facebook, that user will already be logged in to Facebook.”
Shepard also reiterated Facebook’s commitment to security.
“We came up with a design that ensures that users would know they were providing their login credentials to Facebook, and not some unscrupulous site,” explained Shepard. “We streamlined the OpenID login process while maintaining security, converting the full-page redirect to a pop-up. We worked with the community to develop this pop-up extension to standardize the more streamlined user experience.”
The OpenID Foundation was formed in 2007 to help promote OpenID technologies. The organization is currently governed by 7 community elected board members and an equal number of corporate board members.
