Who is the registered account holder?¶
id: "AI-009" title: "Who is the registered account holder?" series: "Accounts and Identity" content_type: "video-script" status: "draft" owner: "IF Digital"
Who is the registered account holder?¶
Script¶
You obtain account information from a provider and find a name attached to the account.
That person or organisation is the registered account holder.
It is an important lead.
It is not automatic proof of who used the account.
The registered account holder is the identity recorded by the provider when the account was created or maintained.
Depending on the service, that information may include a name, email address, telephone number, billing address or payment method.
But providers do not all verify identity in the same way.
Some accounts require formal checks. Others can be created using information supplied by the user with little or no verification.
The details may therefore be accurate, incomplete, outdated, false or stolen.
Even where the registration information is genuine, the account may be used by somebody else.
The holder may have shared access, sold the account, lost control of it or had it compromised. The account may have been created for an organisation and used by several employees.
Treat registration information as a starting point.
Ask what was actually verified and when.
Was the name checked against an identity document?
Was the email address confirmed?
Was the telephone number active?
Was a payment method used, and who controlled it?
Then connect the registration data to evidence of use.
Look at devices, sessions, IP records, recovery details, linked accounts, communications and the circumstances of the relevant event.
Be careful with language in reports.
Do not say that the provider has identified the offender when it has only supplied the registered details.
Say exactly what the record shows.
For example: the account was registered in this name, using this email address, at this time.
That wording preserves the value of the evidence without overstating it.
The registered account holder is the person or organisation named in the provider's records.
They may be central to the investigation.
But registration, control, use and responsibility are separate questions.