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Category: HealthVault

Portland OpenID looking healthy: Vidoop authentication for Microsoft HealthVault

VidoopPortland-based Vidoop—the OpenID provider that allows users to login more securely without using a password—has just announced that their authentication will be used by Microsoft HealthVault, the online health information storage and Personal Health Record product from our neighbors to the north.

“Our objective is to give our customers choice and make their Web experience easier, while helping them safeguard their privacy,” said George Scriban, senior product manager, Health Solutions Group, Microsoft. “We’re happy to be working with Vidoop to give HealthVault users the option of using their log-in and authentication solutions with their HealthVault account.”

Not only is this good news for Vidoop, it’s good news for OpenID. What’s more (and near and dear to our hearts), it’s good for Portland, as Vidoop joins Portland’s other OpenID juggernaut, JanRain, as an option for HealthVault logins.

Microsoft HealthVault allows individuals to store health information from many sources in one location, so that it’s always organized and available. HealthVault is working with doctors, hospitals, employers, pharmacies, insurance providers and manufacturers of health devices—blood pressure monitors, heart rate monitors and more—to make it easy for consumers to add information electronically to HealthVault records.

Vidoop’s ImageShield—which allows users to login based on information contained in a series of images—will ensure that individuals have secure access to these records without the issues generally associated with password-based security.

“The weakest point in Internet security is the front line – where users log-in – but with strong authentication the front line can become the strongest point,” said Scott Kveton, Vidoop’s vice president of Engineering.

For more on Microsoft’s consumer health solution, visit Microsoft HealthVault. For details on OpenID and ImageShield, visit Vidoop.

JanRain OpenID could be the key to your health (vault)

myOpenIDIn June, that little software company to the north of us, Microsoft, made news by allowing OpenID logins to its Microsoft Health Vault product.

Problem was—as TechCrunch noted—only two OpenID relying parties were allowed to play:

Over 16 months after first declaring its support for the OpenID authentication platform, Microsoft has finally implemented it for the first time, allowing for OpenID logins on its Health Vault medical site. Unfortunately, Health Vault will only support authentication from two OpenID providers: Trustbearer and Verisign. Whatever happened to the Open in OpenID?

But now, Microsoft has decided to increase the number of relying parties by 50%. To three.

So who was the lucky relying party who made it through the door? Portland-based JanRain‘s myOpenID.

A number of folks—me among them—are surprised it’s taken Microsoft this long to add another relying party. And it seems like the list is still missing a few other obvious and highly secure choices.

But myOpenID is a great place to start:

JanRain’s myOpenID service, the first and most popular independent OpenID service on the Internet, provides consumers with a free, fully featured, reliable, and secure solution for managing their personal online identity. Every myOpenID user receives several choices for secure authentication beyond password. These enhanced security options include: Microsoft InfoCard, Client Certificate, or Phone-based two factor authentication.

For more information on the personal health record service, visit Microsoft Health Vault. For more on JanRain and its OpenID solutions, visit JanRain or myOpenID.