Have you ever been to a website where you needed to sign in, and was presented with the option of ‘log in with your OpenID’? If yes, you’ve also probably wondered what this OpenID was all about. Let’s find out.

As defined by the OpenID Foundation, ‘OpenID allows you to use an existing account to sign in multiple websites, without needing to create new passwords.’ To many people, this sounds like a wonderful idea — and anyone who has had to juggle with remembering multiple passwords for a multitude of accounts will empathise with the requirement. On the other hand, if the thought of a unified web identity fills you with dread, this is not for you.

But how does it work and how does one get an OpenID?

OpenID is a single digital identity that can be used across hundreds of sites — provided they support OpenID — rather than having to create a username/password set. So, if you’re on an OpenID-enabled site, instead of submitting your login details, you only need to give your login details to your OpenID provider, who in turn lets the website you’re on know that you are cleared to log in. Still confusing?

The chances are that you already have an OpenID: As a member of any of web-based services like Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, LiveJournal, AOL, MySpace, Flickr, Blogger, WordPress and many, many more. In addition, there are dedicated OpenID providers such as MyOpenID (myopenid.com), Your Internet ID (yiid.com), MyID (myid.net) and Verisign Personal Identity Provider (pip.verisign labs.com), among others. Finally, you can always use your own URL, such as your blog or website as your OpenID — which can be achieved with some simple HTML.

Thus, to sign in with your OpenID, enter it in the box provided (if you find a ‘log in with Facebook/Google/Yahoo/etc.’ options on a site, you can use those). Say, if WordPress is your provider, you use your WP URL. Subsequently, you will be taken to your provider’s site and have to log in there and verify that the first site may use your identity. Then, the provider will communicate to the site you were trying to log in to and let it know that you are verified to enter.

But what about the security implications of this? Do sites that support OpenID have access to your other accounts? No, certainly not. Whether you want to share any information is in your hands —‘you may choose to associate information with your OpenID that can be shared with the websites you visit, such as a name or an email address. With OpenID, you control how much of that information is shared with the websites you visit,’ says the OpenID Foun-dation website OpenID.net.

As for whether it is more secure — well, it isn’t any more or less secure than using a username and password at a particular site. The only thing is, you only need to remember one set of login details. If you are convinced that a single identity linking you across the web is not a good idea, OpenID is probably not your cup of tea.

Created in 2005, OpenID is a decentralised log in system for the entire web. Which is to say, no one owns it, but it exists thanks to a collaboration of a number of people who believe in the concept. The OpenID Foundation was set up two years later to ‘promote, protect and enable the OpenID technologies and community’. Anyone can become an OpenID provider fairly easily. Visit OpenID.net and OpenIDExplained.com to find out about this and more.

(Payal Dhar is a freelance technology writer)