Big news, TechCrunch says Facebook First Big Site To Really Embrace OpenID. I’ve been following OpenID for several years. Yes its confused with Microsoft Passport at first glance but when coupled with OAuth and other underlying infrastructures, it will allow things like letting websites share your data without providing your password, which is common with all of the third-party Twitter apps out there.

I’ve never come across a dating site that utilized OpenID. I expect this will change in a year or so.

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Recently I spoke with Larry Cynkin, CTO of Honesty Online, as part of the Online Dating Insider sponsor series. Honesty Online provides a verified identity credential that you can use and re-use wherever you interact or transact online. Your credential is your virtual calling card, letting others know who you are and letting them know they can trust you.

Note: people tend to mix up background checks and identity verification. There is a difference. An identity check verifies you are who you say you are, nothing more. A background check looks into criminal, education or other statistics for a person, but does not confirm you are this person. Honesty Online offers a both an identity and background check.

During our conversation, Larry shared recent happenings at Honesty Online.

Honesty Online has a new credential widget which makes it easier to quickly embed credentials on partner sites. Gone is the need for partners to add database fields, as is the case with the original method; the credential widget is added to a website through a simple HTML script, yet like the existing credential, it is secure.

The original integration method, while a step up in complexity, offers parter sites additional functionality such as filtering on credentialed users in search.

The credential is what Larry calls a “first pass filter” that speaks to the legitimacy of a user. It gives a user a way to stand out in a crowd.

A new Facebook application will display a verification credential on Facebook profiles.

Adding employment verification. Roll out feature to move and add details to your credential.

Attended the Identity WorkShop recently.

Two patents applied for. One is for how they pass secure information back and forth between Honesty Online and partner to know if credential is genuine. The second is for the client widget.

Coming soon: Adding ability for users to manage their own accounts: 1) Ability to register your blog or website or web page and 2) control visibility of items in your credential.

There are many other potential uses for identity verification, including using Honesty Online to verify people, companies and brands on services such as Twitter as well as being built into OpenID.

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Read all about how complicated OpenID is for normal people to use. This Passport replacement system has been building quite a head of steam for some time now, but it’s still too much work to use. Yahoo! Releases OpenID Research.

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Perusing the list of presenters and sponsors of the Social Networking and Dating conference in Miami. I came across Vidoop, which is building out a single signon solution based on Open ID. Vidoop provides corporate-grade security to websites, but with an interesting twist.

Vidoop Secure is a software-only, multi-factor user login technology based on categorized images. When a user enrolls, he chooses image categories from a bank of possible image content (such as airplanes, cars, or keys). This constitutes the shared secret. Then, upon proof of receipt of an access code transmitted out-of-band by e-mail or phone, the user’s computer is activated with a software token.

When choosing a username for a site, user chooses several images from a set of predefined categories arranged in a grid. Each individual user is presented with a different array of images during each login attempt. The images associated with the categories change for each login attempt while the categories stay the same, changing only their location on the grid. Users logging in on a new machine are able to retrieve their access code via pre-verified mobile phones.

At first I thought it was similar to the Yahoo! login feature where you are greeted with an image of your choosing during the login process, which supposedly is useful in fighting phishing. This is not the case. Vidoop is one of those things that you have to try to fully understand how simple and smart authentication can be when it’s done right. Watch a video that explains Vidoop or try it yourself at Myvidoop.com.

What this amounts to is a hack-proof login solution that can’t be broken with keystroke loggers, brute force attacks, phishing and automated man in the middle attacks.

As an OpenID provider, Vidoop is the first company that makes offering OpenID financially self-sustaining and profitable. With hundreds of millions of people potentially using OpenID credentials, vidoop could be a driver for adoption rates, especially when sites realize they can make money with Vidoop.

Sites get secure login capabilities and get paid to use it. This is a win for all parties involved. Images can be actual advertising. Think about zip-code targeted ads in images. vidoop manages ads for customer.

Vidoop offers sites three ways to make money.

1) Install login on your site. Vidoop shares ad revenue.
2) Open ID enable your site. Put button next to login saying “”get your OpenID”. For each authentication, vidoop will pay the site.
3) Take entire MyVidoop for domains, password manager, self-brand, for free. Business model is to see more users seeing image grid.

Vidoop can be used on small or large sites. Vidoop will let larger sites use own ad partner, or combination of both ad providers.

Based on Tulsa, OK, Vidoop is two years old, has several partner and a large number of patents. They also provide users with password manager.

Vidoop has an SDK, and runs as web service, exposing their API. Enterprise solution is shipping based on Outlook Web Access.

Vidoop will be making a major announcement at the conference next week.

Related posts:

1. Webshots Launches AllYouCanUpload.com
2. MySpace Illicit Image Hunters
3. Facebook Serves Billions of Images Daily