[eluser]TheFuzzy0ne[/eluser]
[quote author="merik" date="1362688452"]
Session library is not what I want, because it exposes user data into the cookie, and because it keeps you logged after you close the browser window.[/quote]
It does??
You can encrypt your cookies, or store session data in the database. That's exactly what I do. It keeps cookies lean, and keeps sensitive data out/obscured, and it overcomes the cookie size limit, too.
You can also set them to expire once the browser is closed. It can all be done in the ./application/config/config.php file.
[quote author="merik" date="1362688452"]
But what I want to do is a centralized way to control permissions. Does CI have a permissions library?[/quote]
No, it doesn't. But it should be pretty simple to put one together. It depends on how much functionality you need.