10. Understand verified and unverified contacts
Identity indicators help you judge whether a customer's email, phone number or website identity has been proven. Check the individual identity rather than treating every detail on a contact as equally reliable.
A typed name, an email entered in a form and a signed-in website identity provide different evidence.
Identity states
| State | Meaning | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Claimed | A visitor supplied a value without proof of ownership. | Optional webchat email capture. |
| Unverified | The value is held on a contact, but ownership is not proven. | Staff entry or a signed host email without email_verified. |
| Verified | Converso received supported proof for the identity. | Signed host identity, verified host email, WhatsApp identity or authenticated email processing. |
Inspect the identity indicators in the contact panel rather than assuming all details on a record have the same status. A phone verified by WhatsApp does not prove an unrelated email address. A contact's signed external identifier is also distinct from its display name.
Website identity
Your server signs a short-lived token with the workspace's identity secret. Its subject identifies the signed-in user. An email in that token becomes verified only when your server explicitly supplies email_verified: true. Use that claim only when your own application has verified the address.
Conversation authentication lasts only while the token is valid. Refresh the token on page load and reset the widget on sign-out. A previously verified identity record and a currently authenticated conversation are related but different states. Converso does not supply an unauthenticated contact's name to the AI as authenticated customer context.
Identity matching
An anonymous email claim does not automatically merge a visitor with an existing customer. Proven identity can resolve an existing record and, where permitted, merge duplicates. Automatic proof-based merging preserves a signed host contact in preference to an unsigned one, otherwise the older record. It does not automatically merge two contacts that both carry signed external identifiers.
Manual merging is an admin workflow with its own preview and survivor rules. Do not infer that a duplicate suggestion is permission to combine two people.
Verification scope
Contact verification describes the evidence Converso holds for an identity. It does not establish:
- Meta business verification or a WhatsApp business badge.
- Ownership of every other identity on the same contact.
- Permission to access the customer's account in another application.
Related guides: Widget identity, Merge contacts, Manage contacts.