What is Researcher Passport? How does ICPSR handle access to its data and members-only content?

In order to download data or analyze data online, users will need to log in (authenticate) and agree to terms of use.

ICPSR recommends that data users create and use a Researcher Passport account, which is ICPSR’s user registration and authentication system. The system creates a more secure environment for users and enables them to sign up for services that ICPSR is developing. Anyone who is accessing ICPSR data or educational resources or depositing data must have a Researcher Passport account.

If data users prefer to use an existing account, they may log in to ICPSR using their LinkedIn, Google, or ORCID account.

Benefits of Third Party Authentication

Users will not have to remember a separate login/password to access ICPSR data.

If users are logged into their third-party account and then go to ICPSR, they will already be logged into ICPSR.

Privacy Issues

Using a single identity to log into multiple websites allows users to establish a reputation on several sites with the same ID. However, that may make it easier for others (marketers, law-enforcers) to track them.

Users can choose to share personal information they’ve stored at the third-party provider with ICPSR, in order to save the trouble of re-entering some basic profile information.

If a third-party account gets hacked, the hackers would also be able to access that user’s ICPSR account.

Third-party authentication providers are able to track every site you use your third-party account to log into.

Multiple Logins

A user may log into ICPSR using (for example) LinkedIn one session, Google another session, and Researcher Passport a third session. Doing so would create separate profiles in the ICPSR system if the third-party accounts are associated with different email addresses.