A comparison of users' perceptions of and willingness to use Google, Facebook, and Google+ single-sign-on functionality

Abstract

Identity providers such as Google and Facebook are increasingly used to sign in to third-party services like Flickr and USA Today. For users, this can increase convenience (e.g., fewer passwords to remember) and security (e.g., service providers need not keep passwords). At the same time, relying on identity providers that have rich information about users (e.g., all information in a Facebook profile) creates the risk that users will lose oversight or control over the access that service providers are given to this information. To address such concerns, identity providers show users consent interfaces at sign on and provide audit tools for post hoc review.