Word
oauth
Definition
n. a system that lets one website or app use your information from another account without seeing your password. It is what allows you to click 'Log in with Google' on a different website.
n. an open-standard authorization protocol that provides applications with secure delegated access to user resources. It allows a third-party service to interact with a user's account via an access token rather than requiring the user's primary credentials.
Examples
“The app uses OAuth to let you log in with your social media account.”
“When you use a fitness app to pull data from your smartwatch account, the two services typically communicate using OAuth for security.”
“By implementing OAuth, the platform ensures that third-party developers can access specific user data without ever compromising the integrity of the central authentication database.”
Examples
simple
“The app uses OAuth to let you log in with your social media account.”
contextual
“When you use a fitness app to pull data from your smartwatch account, the two services typically communicate using OAuth for security.”
complex
“By implementing OAuth, the platform ensures that third-party developers can access specific user data without ever compromising the integrity of the central authentication database.”
Usage
Often functions as a modifier before nouns like 'protocol', 'token', or 'client'.
Pitfall
The site asked for my OAuth
The site used OAuth for login
OAuth is the protocol or system, not a piece of data like a password that a user 'has' or 'gives'.
Etymology
A portmanteau of open and authorization. The term was coined in 2007 by Blaine Cook and a small group of developers to describe a new protocol for delegated authentication.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/oauth