A practical master key with pitfalls: If you log in to different websites with a single account, you could be walking on thin ice.

It is simply convenient to use your Facebook or Amazon (Amazon Payments) account for other sites, but the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center warns of the dangers that such convenience can bring.

If you would like to log in to other sites with an existing account and be able to pay straight away, you can use the so-called “single sign-on”. This method of course offers various advantages, such as no need to register again, no hassle of creating and remembering different passwords and the supposed assumption that you don't have to entrust your account details to another provider.

But this convenience also has its risks:

A master key with access “everywhere”

You can also think of “single sign-on” as a master key. Anyone who has this key has access everywhere. , phishing or hacker attacks could result in this master key falling into the wrong hands.

Because very few people consider that with “single sign-on” they only use a single password for many different accounts. The criminals then not only have access to the user accounts, but to all sites with the corresponding login option.

Anyone who has the password can now make purchases or do other mischief at the expense of the original account owner.

TIPS:

  • Choosing a secure password that is unique and not used for any other user account is a cornerstone of protecting yourself from data thieves.
  • In the best case scenario, you secure your account with so-called two-factor authentication , where you have to enter a PIN in addition to the password.
  • A look at the data protection declaration helps to understand how providers handle sensitive data.
  • A regular check of your email account and bank accounts provides evidence of unwanted payment transactions.
  • File a criminal complaint with the police or public prosecutor.

What is your data worth?

If you use the “single sign-on” you also run the risk that all information about everything you do on other sites will be collected by the user account provider.

This means that it could create a comprehensive profile picture from the user's preferences, habits and shopping behavior and third parties can also access public information on the Facebook profile, for example, without the user noticing. Researchers at Princeton University have also found this out.

It is not uncommon for tailor-made advertising to be inserted with the potential to potentially miss out on cheaper offers. As an example: If the user frequently buys expensive products, online shops could increase the prices specifically for that one user. The more shops have access to this data, the more often the user ends up paying for it.

Finding out more about the data protection conditions is annoying, but if you don't want to be manipulated in the long term, you would be well advised to invest this time.

"That was not me!"

Another major disadvantage of “single sign-on” is the risk of things happening on your own social media profile that the user is completely unaware of.

In order to be able to use this login at all, a corresponding application (app) must be activated on Facebook or Google. These apps can demand extensive rights and can, for example, like or even post things unnoticed on behalf of the user.

Here, too, you have to invest time if you don’t want the account to “become independent”. There is often the option - the rights are listed when setting up the login on the other website - to remove individual points by clicking away on a tick.

If this is not possible, there is often only one solution: not to use the login for the relevant page and to end the setup by clicking “Cancel”.

One last tip at the end:

You can find out which apps are connected to the social media accounts and what rights they have in the settings:

Facebook

Google

Twitter


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