Eligibility Policy

To be eligible for an entry in the Verified Handles database you must meet the eligibility criteria below:

About the criteria

Our criteria is different to other 'notability' criteria. We focus not on the amount of news coverage, followers, or other traditional methods of assessing noteworthiness and instead assess the risk of impersonation.
We have merged our custom username criteria with this policy, so anyone with an entry is also eligible for a custom username at verifiedhandles.com/username, as long as you have claimed your entry.

Eligibility criteria

You must meet at least one of the below criteria.

Have an English Wikipedia article - The article has to be undisputed, clearly about your entity and at least 10 days old. Do not make an article with a hope of getting on Verified Handles.
An existing or potential high risk of impersonation - We define this as your online presence having a significant risk of being impersonated across multiple social platforms.
Have 100 or more points accumulated from the below options list - Your point score is used by us to assess your eligibility if you don't meet either of the above criteria.

Each Verified Account representing the entity you are applying with are worth 50 points.
Please take note that only the following services can count towards this; TikTok and Snapchat.
Verified accounts on Facebook, YouTube, Officially, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter etc do not count.

If an entry, meeting the eligibility criteria itself, exists that is related to the entity you are applying with it counts for 100 points.
Examples of association: Founder, Sub-entity, Parent entity, Key people, CEO. These are assessed on a case by case basis.

We prefer not to use press coverage as a means of assessing eligibility, however we recognise those receiving significant amounts of coverage are more likely to be a target for impersonation. If this option is selected at application we will review coverage on a case by case basic and decide how many points will be given. Promotional or paid coverage is not considered, even if unmarked.

Each authoritative place that your entity is listed counts for 20 points. Examples include: Registered charity, company number.

These do not count towards eligibility

ISNI, VIAF and similar. - These databases do not count towards eligibility with us. Our reasoning is both can be user-generated and are not indicative of a risk of impersonation.
Wikidata item(s). - Wikidata has a low notability policy and a common theme for items that are created then deleted soon after for not meeting their notability criteria.
Google Knowledge Panel. - The panels themselves do not represent any risk of impersonation. However, the content in them might, such as an English Wikipedia article (see main criteria).

Examples for point combinations

Example 1

Verified Tiktok - 50 points
Major news story - 30 points
Registered charity - 20 points

50 + 30 + 20 = 100 points = Eligible

Example 2

Verified Facebook - 0 points
Paid coverage - 0 points
LinkedIn account - 0 points
Associated entry as founder - 100 points

0 + 0 + 0 + 100 = 100 points = Eligible

This policy is intentionally left vague with regard to the risk of impersonation criteria option. Our team assess your risk on a case-by-case basis and appeals are welcomed.

Had your entry deleted because of this policy? Yes, we do delete existing entries to conform to this policy.
If you want us to re-assess your entry, tell us the old VHID in the application form or email us and we might restore it.

Got questions about this policy?

Drop us an email. Please don't hesitate to get in touch, we welcome questions, feedback and criticism.

This policy is only a guide and we are always happy to assess eligibility on a case-by-case basis if requested.

Effective from 28 September 2021, this version made 17 October 2023.

Written by James Haworth

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Designed to combat impersonation, Verified Handles is a non-profit organisation.