You want to give a friend access to your account, but you don't want to actually give them your password. Maybe you've made the mistake of using the same password on all your accounts, and by giving them your Facebook password you're giving them access to your entire life. Or you just want them to have temporary access without having to change your password! Or you just want to give them temporary access to a paid account so they can see if it's worth upgrading.
As expected, there is a browser extension for this.
AccessURL makes it super easy to share your login information with anyone you want for a limited time. However, there are a few catch-ups! Both you and your friend must be using Chrome as AccessURL is an extension for that browser , and you will need to stay logged into that account for the other party to have access. The latter is actually a measure implemented by AccessURL for security reasons .
Our website gives a little taste of how it works:
AccessURL does not rely on or have access to usernames or passwords. AccessURL relies on cookies. On most websites, this means that if you are logged out, anyone who uses your AccessURL will log you out too. This is one of the ways that AccessURL prioritizes security above all else.
So, let’s say you want to share Facebook account . Go to the website, make sure you’re logged in, and tap the extension button. You’ll be able to set an expiration period of 24 hours, 1 week, or never. Having more options in this section is really helpful – like once you close the tab or after a certain number of days. AccessURL will create a private link that you can share with anyone you want. They will, however, need to have AccessURL installed on their computer.
If you choose to allow permanent access to your account, you can always come back later and revoke access through the site by clicking Manage Access URLS. You will also need to remain logged into your account for access to be possible from the other side. This also means that they cannot lock you out of your account, as they cannot change your password.
And according to AccessURL itself, you're not sharing your credentials with them either:
By design, the AccessURL server cannot read the user's data. It does not have the password (which is unique for each Access URL). The Chrome extension encrypts the data before it reaches the server and does not provide the server with the password. For encryption, AccessURL uses the industry-standard: AES.
In a work environment, AccessURL can be very useful. Do you have interns at your company for only a few months? Instead of giving them user credentials for the sites they need to do their job, you can give them access using this Chrome extension.
