OAuth
= open protocol to allow secure API authentication: "this protocol will let services that hold your data offer a set of rules and options for allowing other applications to access selected parts of it."
URL = http://oauth.net/
Description
From the Wikipedia:
"OAuth is an open protocol, initiated by Blaine Cook and Chris Messina, to allow secure API authentication in a simple and standard method from desktop and web applications. For consumer developers, OAuth is a method to publish and interact with protected data. For Service Provider developers, OAuth gives users access to their data while protecting their account credentials." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth)
"The OAuth spec will create a standardized way for applications to request permission for access to user info from other applications and for info-holding services to communicate clear rules and options for accessing parts of the data they hold."