Open ID - Technical Overview

Technical Overview

An end-user is the entity that wants to assert a particular identity. A relying party (RP) is a web site or application that wants to verify the end-user's identifier. Other terms for this party include "service provider" or the now obsolete "consumer". An identity provider, or OpenID provider (OP) is a service that specializes in registering OpenID URLs or XRIs. OpenID enables an end-user to communicate with a relying party. This communication is done through the exchange of an identifier or OpenID, which is the URL or XRI chosen by the end-user to name the end-user's identity. An Identity provider provides the OpenID authentication (and possibly other identity services). The exchange is enabled by a User-agent, which is the program (such as a browser) used by the end-user to communicate with the relying party and OpenID provider.