A method and system for authenticating a computing device for data usage accounting are described herein. As an example, the method can be practiced on a computing device that includes secure applications and unsecure applications. A data session request for a secure application can be received, and in response to the data session request, a data session connection can be initiated. As part of initiating the data session connection, an authentication package uniquely associated with the computing device can be sent to the authentication server. If the computing device is authenticated, the data session connection can be established to enable data exchange and data accounting in which the authenticating may be performed exclusively for the secure applications.