Note: User Hub features are in Closed Beta. For more information, please contact your Customer Success managers.
Who is a User in Helpshift’s New Identity System? How are they Identified?
A "User" in Helpshift refers to an individual or a source recognized and managed through a unique set of identities interacting with the brand. In business terms, they are the Consumer/End User for brands.
With identities, we can uniquely determine who the individual is across various interactions end users have with your brand.
The new identity system lets multiple verified identities (like App IDs, Social IDs, etc.) be linked to one Helpshift Global User ID (a unique identifier for tracking users), which acts as a secure identifier for a user across all platforms and apps.
Key Concepts of the New Identity System
- Helpshift Core Identity: A unique, anonymous identifier for each user in the Helpshift system. It links all other identities associated with an individual for secure user management across all platforms and apps.
- Identity Providers: Identity Providers are verified identities linked to a single Helpshift Core Identity, representing an individual. These can come from different sources, such as apps ((from mobile, web, PC, and console platforms) and social media accounts ((e.g., Facebook, Discord, WhatsApp).
- Anonymous User: Users without any personally identifiable information such as name, social IDs, contact details, etc. Learn more about Full Privacy mode
- Unidentified User: A variation of anonymous users where the brands do not provide any kind of IDs to identify the users while calling our Login API. The profiles/values of such users cannot be updated at a later point in time.
Standard types of Identities
Users can be identified across multiple platforms and apps, with different identity types for granular control and personalized user experiences.
| Component | Use | Example |
App Identities | Identify users across various interactions from different platforms, such as “mobile, web, PC, Email, CRM, MIS.” They help search, filter, and service the right individual. | Retrieve all issues of user loremipsum@gmail.com. Retrieve all issues of user with Brand ID = id1234567890 |
Social Identities | Identify individuals on social platforms like Meta (Facebook), Discord, and WhatsApp to provide appropriate support. | Use Facebook ID 1cd2f-ja1i94 to notify the user about the ticket status or app launch. |
Distribution Platform Identities
| Identify users interacting with the brand from “Apple’s Game Store & Android’s App Store.” | Use the Game Store ID to pull Reviews into Helpshift. |
Console Identities [Gaming Specific] | Identify users interacting with the brand from Gaming consoles like Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox. | Find the preferences of games for user loremipsum@sony.com across various consoles. |
Gaming Distribution Platform Identities [Gaming Specific] | Identify users interacting with the brand from the gaming distribution platform “Steam.” | Get the games list for the user with SteamID = 1234567890111214 |
Apps represent each of the products or services you support. Each app corresponds to a distinct product or service you offer. Learn more about apps
The following table defines the IDs and their respective fields to identify users.
| Component | Use Case |
App User ID | Collected to identify and distinguish Application-wise user data. You could also add the common ID across apps here if you have to identify them across apps. |
Email ID | To recognize the user from the emails they send. |
Phone Number | To recognize the user based on interaction with their phone number. |
Facebook ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Facebook (Meta) account. |
Discord ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Discord account. |
Whatsapp ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Whatsapp account. |
Google Playstore ID | To recognize a user based on their interaction with their Android Play Store account that will help you pull in Play Store reviews. |
Apple Game Center ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Apple Game Center account that will help pull in the Game Center reviews given. |
Nintendo ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Gaming console. |
PlayStation ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Gaming Console: Playstation Sony account. |
Xbox Live ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Gaming Console: Xbox Microsoft account. |
Steam ID | To recognize the user based on interaction from their Game Distribution Platform account. |
Worried about security? Please refer here.
Difference from existing IDs
Old identity allows you to identify the user using App User ID and Email ID.
| Comparison | Old ID System | New ID System |
User Identified across 1 Brand is 1 Domain that can have multiple Apps. A user on an app could be reaching out on multiple platforms using multiple devices. | 1 User 1 Profile per platform | 1 User 1 Profile per domain |
Identifiers | App User ID, Email IDs | App User IDs, Email IDs, Phone Numbers, Facebook IDs, Discord IDs, Whatsapp IDs, Google Playstore IDs, Apple Game Center IDs, Nintendo IDs, PlayStation IDs, Xbox Live IDs, and Steam IDs |
Impersonation Risk | Low (if verification token implemented) High (if verification token not implemented) | Low (Industry best practices provisioned: Mandates Verification token & refresh token system) |
Attributing user behavior & preferences to the right user | Difficult | Easy |