Mozilla BrowserID, Sign-In System

[BrianBosworth]

Many contents on the Internet require a user account before they can be accessed and used. This means for users that they have to create an account, by entering one of their email addresses, selecting a password, username and maybe some other information. They often get a confirmation email with a link that they have to load to verify the sign-up. Once that is done they can log into the service or system. This feels redundant considering that users have to repeat the very same process for all the sites that require an account.

We have seen services in the past that try to tackle the issue with a global ID. Open ID is one of those services. You basically create a single account at Open ID and can use the account information to sign in on sites that support the technology.

Mozilla has now introduced their own service, called BrowserID. The technology has been designed to work with all browsers and mobile devices. Users benefit from a streamlined process. They only have to verify their email address once before they can use BrowserID to sign into any website supporting BrowserID with two clicks.
BrowserID displays a popup window when a user clicks on sign In on a website that supports it. If the user is logged into BrowserID, all email addresses associated with the account are displayed. All it takes to sign in is to select one, or use the default selection, and click the Sign In button in the window afterwards. A password does not need to be entered anymore.

Mozilla has published a short tutorial for web developers who want to implement BrowserID on their websites and services.
A blog post over at Mozilla summarizes the benefits of the technology:

Easy to use: Users sign up once and can use BrowserID on any website supporting it. They save time and get the same log in experience on all of those sites.
Secure: Uses the verified email protocol. Public Key Cryptography is used to verify account ownership.
Cross-Browser: Works on all modern browsers
Decentralized
Future browser support
Respects Privacy: Does not leak back information to a server about the sites a user visits.

The project is experimental in its current stage. Plans are to integrate the feature into the Firefox web browser at a later point in time.

It is to early to tell if BrowserID will take of in the future. It might if Mozilla succeeds in implementing BrowserID into the Firefox browser natively.

Mozilla BrowserID, Sign-In System

[SealLion]

Respects Privacy: Does not leak back information to a server about the sites a user visits.

Nonsense.

As part of the normal operation of the BrowserID service, Mozilla will retain a log of which sites you have disclosed your email to

and this...

In the future, Mozilla will seek to bring email providers into this system, at which point their privacy policies and terms of service will apply

and....

Data Used to Provide the Services

Mozilla receives and uses the following information for the purpose of providing and improving the BrowserID Service: IP address,.....

the below quote I can understand; however, I'm always leery when some website or webservice tells me that my privacy is private. To me that's just plain horse-hockey. Ever watched horses play hockey??

Mozilla will ..... disclose .....information to other third parties..... when required to do so, such as in order to comply with any law, regulation, or valid legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, court order, or if necessary or appropriate to address an unlawful or harmful activity.

And here's a nice one for ya....

Where is the Operational Data Available?

Mozilla is an open organization that believes in sharing as much information as possible about its products, its operations, and its associations with its wider community

There is no such thing as privacy.

Links to the above quotes

https://browserid.org/privacy

[SomeGuy]

We're f%*ed!

[SealLion]

Not really. Who says that you have to use any kind of browsing ID when on the internet??
Nobody.

This is only an option for what-ever Mozilla thinks it's good for. Something like the Facebook fad that's been going on for the last few years. Or any other kind of services from websites affiliated with Open ID, Browser ID, Global ID, Tourist-Trap ID, Retard ID, what-ever they can think of, I guess.

There is so much social-networking crap and website services like this one here being "sold' to the internet consumer lately, it's phenomenal to say the least. Next thing you know your being 'sold' the idea that Bubbles (Trailer Park Boys) is a serial kitten rapist. Now try telling that to Mike the guy with the mustache.

[SomeGuy]

My experience is starting to tell me that Mozilla is worse than Google, they're the undercover privacy traitor nobody pays attention to :/

[SealLion]

You know.....Google supports Mozilla. When you load up Firefox and have it configured to begin with the Home Page, the first thing you see is the Firefox emblem over the Google search engine.

In return for Firefox having Google as it's "Official" search engine, Google pays out Mozilla a few million dollars as a means of support. Certainly it strongly suggests that Mozilla is able to continue with what-ever products it currently has and want's to have to release to the internet user.

But it also portends other things as well. Since Google gives such huge amounts of money over to Mozilla, I believe that Google could ( if it doesn't already) have a huge and substantial say not just over how the money is used, but also as a form of persuasion of what Google would like to see implemented in Mozilla product lines. Not just having Google calender implemented inside Thunderbird but also .....like...sharing information.

You see what I mean?? Google is big and when it is able to give over 40 million dollars over to Mozilla it suggests that Google and it's money 'talks'. And when it 'talks', Mozilla should listen.

They might be completely and independent organizations from one another but when you hear and read that Mozilla gets over 80 % of it's donations or revenue from Google, it might say a lot more than just that there is a very close relationship between the two organizations.

Mozilla Extends Lucrative Deal With Google For 3 Years | TechCrunch