I have been snooping around and havent be able to find out if there is a way to lock out the glowforge.
Say if you are not home and someone else attempts to use the unit. Is there a way to lock out the start stop button or will there be a user login required to setup and execute jobs? @dan
If you are worried about kidlets, there may be some terminal plugs on the internal boards you can pluck pretty easily.
Being able to set up a required login, keycode, or 2 factor ID with the cloud access could be useful though.
I feel it would be a necessary thing to have or at least the option to do it. If it is just kids you are trying to keep out it would be easy enough to hide the power cord but if someone were to use the unit when you didnt want to and say if they lived with you or maybe the glowforge had to be in a semi common aera the results could be frustrating if not disasterous if there is no secruity or way to limit access.
I would bet that if you make sure a job isn’t queued in the GF when you leave. No amount of mashing the start button would get it to fire. But that’s purely speculation on my part.
You can’t print without both an account that has permission to use that Glowforge, and physically pushing the button. If you don’t want someone to print, don’t give them your account.
That said, if they have physical access to the machine, they can work around this - e.g. reset it to factory defaults. But physical access will negate almost any security measures if someone’s sufficiently motivated.
Awesome thx for the clarification
If you don’t want someone to print, don’t give them your account.
Expanding on that statement - will there be any sort of implementation to create delegated accounts?
Let’s say I have a Glowforge at a workshop/makerspace with 20 people, but I only want Tim, Bob, Sue, Mary, and Ellen to be able to use the machine. I could share my account with them, but it would be nice if I could provision individual accounts for people under the umbrella of my “Owner” account, so to speak.
That would be a very useful feature say if you wanted to also keep track of who is using it and for how much time say for some sort of billing or how many projects someone has done to get more data on your market
I would definitely be interested to hear about any potential to audit user access and event logs, for a variety of purposes.
Do you need to own a GlowForge to make an account? If making an account is a free thing anyone can do, that is certainly good for Maker Spaces and Schools.
And I second @angrysquare on the request for the ability to access a job history, which includes showing what account sent what job.
Software lockout is tied to login. Hardware lockout seems to be the electrical cord for the moment. Yes, easy enough to find a replacement, but I might have to think of some more physical access deterrents.
I have been contemplating making a hard cover for my GlwFrg, and I will certainly be building a custom rolling workcart for it. If I had anyone else around in my workspace I would add a locking device to the cover. Might do anyway. Would work as a theft deterrent as well.
LOL! My dad called that “The belt”
I suppose you could hack a key in place of the GlowForge button. Warranty voiding disclaimers may apply.
Lets not forget that the cat may want to play with the pretty laser while we’re out. Pro owners will have to find a way to keep paws out of the pass through slot. Your solution sounds good!
The pass through slot is said to be just over 1/4" high - how tiny is your cat? 
Multiuser stuff is cool - definitely in the feature hopper.
I like the idea of an owner account and user account being seperate. Then friends could work together on a bigger project and send designs to owner who can then decide which prints go thru
As I said in another thread, though this one is more appropriate, since it has internet access we should have multi-user capabilities. I can use this idea. Once I told my sister I was getting a laser cutter I saw the wheels turning in her head. She is a mechanical engineer and into crafts. Particularly stamping and making cards. The idea with multi-user would be she could design something. Skype me to tell me to put some material in the laser cutter. I watch for the job and then press the print button. Since she works close to where I live she could pick up her prints after work.
If you are going to hack the button don’t do it with a key. It’s fairly easy to use the fingerprint scanners from Sparkfun.com and Adafruit.com. Just saying, that’s how I am going to hack the ignition on my motorcycle…
This exact thread hit home this morning. I have been inconvenienced by my smart home on occasion when the websites running my light and heating and air systems have hiccups. This morning it was the car. Normally I just pick up the phone, send the map to the car and start it to warm it up and it is ready to go when I get in. Nothing like landing home in snow and starting the car before the plane is gated. Until this morning. It required me to call someone to verify identity before I could use the car. Fortunately the car recognized its own fob. So off I went. Not sure there could be a failsafe procedure for glowforge.