The Client ID and Client Secret are essential components of the OAuth 2.0 protocol, which is used by Ory and many other Identity Providers (IDPs) to enable secure access to user data. When you set up a social sign-in provider like Google, you're essentially creating an OAuth 2.0 application on the provider's platform. The Client ID and Client Secret are credentials for this application, used to authenticate it with the provider. Here's how it works: 1. When a user attempts to sign in to your application using Google, for example, they are redirected to Google's sign-in page. 2. After successfully signing in, Google issues an authorization code and sends it back to your application. 3. Your application then exchanges this authorization code for an access token, using the Client ID and Client Secret to authenticate itself with Google. 4. Once the access token is obtained, your application can use it to access the user's Google data as permitted by the scopes specified during the setup. This process ensures that only your application can exchange the authorization code for an access token and access the user's data. Without the Client ID and Client Secret, this secure exchange wouldn't be possible. Most other IDPs that support OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect (OIDC) will also require a Client ID and Client Secret for similar reasons. For example, in the extracts provided, you can see that setting up social sign-in with [Auth0](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/social-signin/auth0), [Ory OAuth2](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/social-signin/ory), [Generic OIDC providers](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/social-signin/generic), [Spotify](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/social-signin/spotify), and [Facebook](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/social-signin/facebook) all involve obtaining a Client ID and Client Secret from the respective platforms.