Wirebook › Glossary › Authorization
What is authorization?
In one sentence: Deciding what someone is allowed to do once you know who they are, checked again on every request.
A little more
Authorization is the website deciding what you are allowed to do. It comes after authentication, which is working out who you are (usually by signing in). A shared document might let one person edit, another only read, and everyone else nothing at all.
Good websites check authorization on every request, not just once when you sign in. That way, if the owner removes someone, the very next visit is refused. A visitor who hasn't signed in usually gets 401 (show who you are first); a signed-in visitor without permission gets 403 Forbidden.
It's a bit like… A guard at a party who checks the guest list every time someone walks through the door, not just the first time.