Log in via Facebook...

[zoco]

...or Google+ etc.

Anyone else reluctant to do this? Anyone else worry that FB is going to poke its nose in where you don't want it and leave some sort of breadcrumb trail of the sites you visit on your timeline (or whatever they call it).

A lot of them have a choice of login methods e.g. disqus but there are quite a few for which you have to sign in with a google account or facebook. ISTR youtube is one of these.

Am I just being paranoid?

[tractor]

...

Facebook and the like are actually worse and more viral than ebola.

In the same vein as Google or any of the others. The 'net has lost any integrity it had long, long ago. It was wonderful until that great philanthropist Gates realised its commercial potential.

[SueEllen]

Am I just being paranoid?

Nope.

I don't log into any site that only allows me to log in with Facebook. Google+ is fine as I have loads of accounts.....

[NickFitz]

A lot of them have a choice of login methods e.g. disqus but there are quite a few for which you have to sign in with a google account or facebook. ISTR youtube is one of these.

YouTube is owned by Google, hence requiring Google+ Login.

I've implemented Facebook Login on several sites for clients, though it was optional, in that you could register with the site directly. All the site itself got was the user's name, email address, and date of birth, though you only got the DoB if that was public information on FB: my FB account has that set to private, so it wasn't supplied back to the sites. It is possible to request more info from FB, but exactly which info will be provided is spelled out to the user on the actual login page, which is provided by Facebook.com itself and not the site you're logging into.

Obviously, FB/Twitter/Google/whatever will know that you used their service to sign up or log in to that site, but if you have login cookies set for the site - i.e. you've used that browser to log in to the authentication provider directly, and haven't logged out - they'll know that anyway. For example, when a FB "like" button appears on a page, FB already knows at that point that you're visiting that site, as the script that makes the button do its magic and, usually, the button graphic itself are loaded directly from FB. When the browser requests those, your login cookies travel along with the request, so they know where you are.

So you're not paranoid, in that they are out to get you; but using the "Login with…" button is the least of your worries. They're way ahead of you

[tranceporter]

I hate logging in via Facebook unless I really have to. I don't necessarily every small activity of my personal life being shared to public..

[SueEllen]

I should have added I'm generally not logged into Facebook. I log in about once a year then log out.

I also have a habit of clearing cookies.