The personalized environment that saves individual configuration preferences is called a user profile.
The concept of user profile is used in the field of computing . This is the name given to a personalized environment for an individual that is developed according to their configuration preferences .
In this way, when the person logs into a system with their user profile, the values already established are loaded. The information can include everything from visual or aesthetic issues (such as a background image or certain icons, to name two possibilities) to details about network connections, the programs (software) to use, shortcuts, etc.
User profile in the operating system
Using user profiles in an operating system , for example, provides several advantages. With different user profiles, different subjects can use the same equipment, each maintaining their own configuration.
The changes made by a user, in this framework, do not affect the preferences set by others . This means that each user, when logging in with their own profile, finds themselves with the conditions they had when they closed their previous session, regardless of what other people did.
User profiles can be used in different programs and applications.
The case of Windows
Let's take the case of the Windows operating system. Individual preferences are stored in a user profile which, each time the subject uses it to log in, loads the indicated settings. These customizations include sound preferences, screen saver, desktop background, and many other variables.
The various user profiles that are created in Windows are saved in a folder . The configuration data corresponding to each of the profiles is kept there. It is also possible to limit access to certain programs or files to a particular user or a group, so as to protect their integrity against inappropriate use or potential accidental deletion.
User profiles and access control
One of the advantages offered by the creation of different user profiles in an operating system is the protection of minors against content created for adults. Whether we are talking about movies, photographs, songs or video games with images or text that refer to violence or explicit sex, among other possibilities, it is important that the little ones do not expose themselves to these topics because they are not prepared to understand them. .
In the case of video game consoles, it is currently possible to create several user profiles on each device , thanks to which each one can personalize their experience, parents can block certain titles so that their children do not use them and each You can use your own money to buy games without risking it being taken away from you by others. This last point is useful in a shared house, where two or more people use the same console but not the same pool of money.
Identity in purchases
To make purchases in a more agile way, today it is very common for the user profile to include payment information , such as credit card or PayPal account information. This considerably facilitates transactions, because it avoids the need to enter them each time. However, given the existence of hackers, storing such sensitive information on a remote server carries a risk that we should not overlook.
In this framework we can talk about identity theft (which in some contexts is called phishing ), a crime that consists of impersonating another person on the Internet for illegal purposes. For this reason, we must think twice before including in our user profile any data that could directly harm us in a case like this.