I use a ton of web services that require accounts that you log into. Most of the time these accounts will be specific towards work or play. An example being Salesforce.com for customer relationship management for work and Netflix.com for renting movies to watch at home. However, other accounts cross over into both realms. Evernote.com and Toodledo.com are two perfect examples.
With Evernote, I can manage most of all the files on my home computer, ideas, photos, etc. It is cloud-based, backs up to my home computer and I can sync the database to my iPhone for instant access to my external brain. But it is so handy I like to keep all my work data in it too, such as blog ideas, pricing for our services, proposals, etc. To access and contribute to my work related data at work I obviously have to login, thus also opening up all my personal data on the job.
Toodledo.com is my to-do application of choice. With it I can manage all of my to-dos, everything from bill pay reminders, home chores to complete, work proposals to complete and grocery lists of things to buy. I can set long term goals and assign multiple to-dos that I need to complete before reaching those goals. It really helps to keep me organized and focused on everything I need to get accomplish and it also has an iPhone app so I can take it anywhere. But again, accessing this via a web browser at work opens up all my personal tasks on the company computer.
Other services, like Google, can get really deep in mixing home and office – Gmail for home, but Google Docs for work? Running Google Analytics for business website but have all your family photos on Picasa? Logging into one Google account can open access to all services you are using with Google.
Now mind you, I don’t have anything to hide, but I do appreciate and respect privacy. I think that is a common trait most people desire to have as well.
The obvious response someone might say is, “just get seperate accounts”. Sure, but what complexity that adds to the equation. Also, you can’t install two copies of the same app on an iPhone and I’m not going to carry around two phones. On top of that, I pay subscription fees for various web services, such as Evernote and Toodledo – while, these subscriptions are affordable, I have no desire to double my expenses.
To me, it would make sense for web application providers to offer some type of two-tiered login: one user name and 2 passwords: the first password opens only the restricted access data (make this your work data you use in the office) and the other password for full access (for when at home). Users that prefer just a standard account can still use one password and not restrict data. Data could be restricted by folders, tags, contexts or any other way an application handles data. This could also be a premium feature for providers to up-sell. While I’m not looking to increase what I pay for these services, an extra 10% on a subscription cost to get this added functionality is worth it.
How about keeping one user name and password for an account but use browser cookies to determine if restricted access is allowed. Maybe when first logging in you get asked if you want restricted data displayed or not on that browser. A cookie is then stored indicating what access is available until you log out and log back in. You could still change the level of access in your profile settings, but would need to re-enter your password before the change takes place.
There are already similar uses of this on sites such as Facebook and Flickr, where you can who gets access to your account postings, but it would be good to have the option for the account owner too.
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