Developer Dictionary
OAuth
Definition
Open Authorization; an open standard for access delegation.
Deep Dive
OAuth, or Open Authorization, is an open standard that allows secure delegated access to resources hosted by a service provider, without sharing the user's actual credentials. Instead of giving a third-party application your username and password directly, OAuth allows you to grant that application specific, limited permissions to your data on another service (like Google or Facebook). This delegation is managed through the exchange of access tokens, ensuring your primary login details remain private and are never exposed to the requesting application.
Examples & Use Cases
- 1Logging into a third-party application using your Google or Facebook account
- 2Granting a photo editing app access to your cloud storage photos
- 3Allowing a financial aggregator app to securely access your bank account data
Related Terms
API KeyJWTSSO