Using Information Cards

  • Article

Applies To: Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0, Windows 7, Windows Vista

You can use an Information Card on any website for which the card satisfies the requirements for that site. This can be one site or many sites. This is similar to using the same credit card at different stores.

When you return to a website where you used an Information Card previously to sign in at that site, CardSpace 2.0 defaults to highlighting the card that you used previously. This makes it easier to find the card that is most likely to be associated with your account. Using the same card for all your visits to a particular site makes it possible for the site to sign you in to your account automatically when you present the card.

You can decide what Information Card to use based on what information you want to send to a particular website. For example, when you leave comments in a blog, you might decide to use a card that was issued to you by your social network site rather than your employer’s card, even though both cards might provide the same information, for example, your name and e-mail address.

You can present an Information Card only if it meets all the requirements of the site that you want to send it to. CardSpace 2.0 shows you only the cards that meet these requirements. Conditions that might prevent a card from being used so that it does not appear in CardSpace 2.0 include the following:

  • A site may require that a card be issued by a specific issuer, such as a trusted Internet service provider (ISP) organization like Verisign.

  • The issuer of a card does not support the release of certain card details for the current site.