Passport is a single sign-in (SSI) service introduced by Microsoft with the intent of making a user’s Internet experience more friendly. In addition to providing one set of credentials that work across multiple sites, Passport stores basic user information such as a user’s name, address, e-mail address, and phone number.
Passport is the keystone to Microsoft’s MyServices initiative-a collection of services that bind useful data to a user’s Passport ID. In addition, it’s the authentication method for the Microsoft Wallet service. Although the aim of the service is to provide convenience, Passport has raised the eyebrows of numerous security and privacy groups. This is due in part to the very nature of Passport-centralizing and controlling information by a single entity. It may not mean much for you in the end as a developer, but for product designers, it becomes a significant political decision.
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