Passport Sign Out

By default, all Passport cookies are stored as “memory cookies,” meaning that they are deleted as soon as a user closes the Web browser. This means that users must sign in to Passport the first time they encounter a Passport-required page in every new browser session.

However, the Passport log-in console, and certain Microsoft services such as Hotmail and MSN Messenger, present users with an opt-in choice, such as “Sign me in automatically” or “Keep me signed into this and all other Passport sites unless I sign out.” By selecting this option, the user allows Passport to place persistent cookies on his machine. This lets the user continue the same Passport session even if the browser is closed or the machine is shut down, greatly reducing the number of sign-ins presented.

Even if users do not choose this option, they may still want to end a Passport session without closing their Web browser-for example, they may want to switch between two different Hotmail accounts.

In these cases, users sign out by clicking the “Passport sign out” icon that appears on every page of all Passport Single Sign-In (SSI) sites. This icon redirects users to a Passport sign-out page containing an “image” for each site visited during the current session.