The web is evolving all the time and with this the risk of your data falling into the wrong hands and identity theft, is greatly increased. Also with so many sites asking us to sign-up and choose a username and password the amount of login details that users have to remember are growing, this prompted a group of influential people from various web organizations to start the OpenID foundation. Openid.net (2008) explains further the service on offer:

OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames and login details across different sites, simplifying the users online experience. You get to choose the OpenID Provider that best meets your needs and most importantly that you trust. At the same time, your OpenID can stay with you, no matter which Provider you move to. And best of all, the OpenID technology is not proprietary and is completely free. For businesses, this means a lower cost of password, while bringing new web traffic. OpenID lowers user frustration by letting users have control of their login. OpenID is still fairly new but is becoming more and more popular, as large organizations like AOL, Microsoft, Sun, Novell, etc. begin to accept and provide OpenIDs for users. It is believed that there are over 160-million OpenID enabled URLs with almost ten-thousand sites using OpenID logins. OpenID has arisen from the open source community to solve the problems that could not be easily solved by other existing technologies. OpenID is a lightweight method of pinpointing individuals that uses the same technology framework that is used to identify websites. Because of this, OpenID is not owned by anyone, nor should it be. Today, anyone can choose to be an OpenID user or an OpenID Provider for free without having to register or be approved by any business or organization.

Brad Fitzpatrick Openid.net (2008) said, “Nobody should own this. Nobody’s planning on making any money from this. The goal is to release every part of this under the most liberal licenses possible, so there’s no money or licensing or registering required to play. It benefits the community as a whole if something like this exists, and we’re all a part of the community.”