As every steemian got a new account on Steemit, So for security purposes every Steemit account has 4 UNIQUE keys which are located on permission keys and the keys are posting key, Active key, Owner key, and Memo key. Each of these key perform certain tasks and have certain permissions which are basically secured by Steemit platform.
It is always important to keep your permission keys and master password safe and backup offline to an external disk or USB and never share it with anyone for security. If you lose your password then there is no way to recover your account back.
Here in this post, I'll let you know about each of the permission keys, master password, and their functionalities. I think it is better to first understand about the master password before moving on to permission keys, So here we go.
Master password
The master password is the actual password that you get after Signing up for the Steemit account and that is given by Steemit.
Posting key
It is a good habit to log into your Steemit account every time with your posting key other than your master password because the posting key restricts users from certain tasks, such as transferring of funds, buying and selling Steems and changing the other permission keys.
The posting key lets the user publish a post, comment on someone's post, upvote, resteem and follow other Steemians accounts and It is always perfect to use while logging into the other Steem blockchain apps. e.g: Busy.org, Utopian.io, and Dtube etc.
Active key
The Active key is one step ahead then the posting key because It can do all the tasks that the posting key does but the best part is that It can perform some more sensitive tasks like transactions, transferring funds, trading, changing profile information, Avatar and more. So every time you will do these certain tasks, then the Steemit account will need your Active key or master password.
Actually, the Active key can do everything on the Steemit account, but the only restriction is that it can't change the Owner key.
Owner Key
The Owner key is one of the most powerful and crucial keys on Steemit like your Master password because It can perform all the tasks on Steemit like Posting key and Active key do and even It has the ability to change the Owner key itself.
Always try to keep your Owner key and Master password secure by storing offline or writing it down on paper or any other place where you will not lose it, and use it when you need.
Although all the keys are important, but the Owner key is the most important because If anyone gets your Owner key, Then he can perform anything on your account mean he can change all of your account settings, permission keys and even can steal your Steem and SBD, but the only thing that he can't steal is Steem power because It takes up to the 13 weeks to power down on a weekly basis.
Memo key
According to the Steemit FAQ section, Currently you can't use this feature because It isn't implemented yet on the Steemit, but it is good to know about Memo key that what it does.
The memo key is used for the source of communication between Steemians like private messaging. With the help of this feature, Steemians can encrypt and decrypt private messages that will be sent and receive among them.
Note: The Active and the Owner key can't decrypt private messages that's why you can only use the memo key for this purpose.
Conclusion
After knowing each of these permission keys, Now It is totally up to you that which key to use for which purpose and also you've to make sure by placing these keys somewhere safe, so you can't lose it and nobody can hack your keys.
Now I'd like to hear from you about the permission keys by sharing your useful thoughts below in the comments, Maybe I missed something.
If you like this post, So please Upvote, Follow and Resteem.