Sxipper: Identity Management with minor Shortcoming

Sxipper is a Firefox plugin by Sxip, a company working on identity projects, e.g. they are part of the co-operation between Microsoft and the OpenID community.

Sxipper keeps track of all your identities and passwords and helps filling out forms on the internet. Passwords are stored encrypted directly in the Firefox password store. So you don’t have to give them to another company which should help gaining trust into Sxipper.

Whenever the plugin detects a form an overlay pops up (see below) and with a single click Sxipper fills in all relevant data. Though this just happens if the plugin already knows the form. If it doesn’t know it you can map the form so all Sxipper users can use it more easily later on. Also you are credited for mapping it.

Though I think there are some privacy issues with crediting forms users. As you can see this form was mapped by Sam Sethi, so I know which site he was surfing. No, I cannot search for users and see all sites they have mapped but I think the Sxip programmers should reconsider giving credits to users. However if you decide using Sxipper you can’t complain. Everything is explained in Sxipper’s privacy statement:

Semantic Maps – Sxipper offers you the ability to create a semantic map for a site if none yet exists. These semantic maps define a relationship between particular data fields stored in Sxipper and data fields required by a particular website. If you choose to create a map, the map is stored on a central Sxip server for the use of all Sxipper users. Anyone using this map will see the Sxipper username chosen by you. If you visit a site for which a map exists, your internet protocol (IP) address and the map you requested are logged on a central Sxip server. We only use this data anonymously and in aggregate for statistical and reporting purposes.

Sxipper is also an OpenID provider. Every user who signs up for Sxipper has an OpenID, username.sxipper.com.

I think Sxipper is an interesting product which supports users managing their various identities. If you are interested in OpenID and identity management give it a try.