User authentication techniques across applications on a user device

A computer-implemented method for providing content comprising:

• receiving a first request from a user for a first content item on a content delivery network (CDN), wherein the first request includes a first universal resource locator (URL) to the first content item, the first URL comprising at least arguments for a first long expiry period, a first short expiry period, and a temporary user identifier;
• and
• providing the user access to the first content item in response to determining validity of the first long expiry period of the first URL and authenticating the user, wherein authenticating the user comprises:
• extracting the temporary user identifier from the first URL, and
• comparing the temporary user identifier with user data from a login session associated with the first URL.