5 ms·
Public keys are a thing in computing, though? Google Maps has one, even. And Stripe.
by ceejayoz 9mo ago
Public keys are a thing in computing, though?
Google Maps has one, even. And Stripe.
- abustamam 9mo agoIt's been a while since I've used stripe but don't their keys start with sk_ for secret and pk_ for public? I like that. Easy to tell if you should keep the key a secret or not.
- ceejayoz 9mo agoThey do, yeah. (Although `pk` always freaks me out. Public or private?! Oh, right, the other one's "secret".)
- ZiiS 9mo agoI would like to restrict the term "Public keys" to refer to asymmetric encryption keys which can be made public without compromising security. The only purpose of the keys Maps/Stripe encourage you to publicly put into your website is to guarantee it is talking to _your_ Google/Stripe account not someone else's. Obviously once you put them in your client they are of zero value in helping Google/Stripe identify you. The fact that Google allows you to use the same type of key they also use elsewhere to identify _you_ not _them_ was always incredibly bad design. Google already have the 'Project ID' which would have been the best thing to use.