Verification levels

The five levels

Levels 2 and above count as verified. A page shows each fact's label next to it ("Verified by work email", "Self-declared") and never calls a lower level verified.

The methods

Account sign-in (OAuth and OpenID Connect)

The person signs in to the account through the platform's own authorization flow: LinkedIn and Google at sign-in, and connected accounts such as X, GitHub, ORCID and YouTube. The platform confirms which account the person controls; SelfBadge records the account and drops the access token once the check is done, so it cannot act on the person's behalf later. A name taken from a sign-in is shown as coming from that sign-in, not as verified, because platforms do not check names.

Work email code

To verify an employer, a six-digit code is sent to an address at the employer's domain, valid for 15 minutes with limited attempts. Free and personal email providers are refused, and the domain must belong to the employer on the profile. Only the domain is kept, not the address.

DNS record

To verify a website the person owns, they add a TXT record with a token generated for them and that host:

selfbadge-verification=<token shown in the editor>

Link back

A page proves it belongs to the person when it links to their SelfBadge address. On the person's own website the link must carry rel="me"; on a platform profile or a page about the person (a team page, a speaker page) a plain link is enough, since only the person or the page's editor can put it there. Platforms that hide profiles behind a login are verified by sign-in instead, and pages anyone can edit (such as Wikidata) cannot verify by link.

<a href="https://selfbadge.com/<handle>" rel="me">My SelfBadge</a>

Documents and identity (levels 3 and 4)

Level 3 is for a reviewed document or a credential confirmed with its issuer; level 4 for an identity document check. These are planned with the paid plans; until then, no profile shows levels 3 or 4.

Expiry and re-checks

Website and work-email verifications are checked again every six months. A website is re-checked the same way it was verified; a work email cannot be re-checked without the person, so the fact drops to self-declared and the person is asked to verify again. A check that no longer passes moves the fact back to self-declared.

Where the level is published

The level is shown next to each fact on the page and published in the profile's .json version, with the method, the dates and the source. It is not in the JSON-LD: schema.org has no clean property for the verification status of a single statement, and the JSON-LD stays plain schema.org.

{
  "property": "worksFor",
  "value": { "name": "Brightfield Analytics", "roleName": "Head of Product" },
  "verification": {
    "level": 2,
    "name": "account-verified",
    "label": "Verified by work email",
    "method": "email_code",
    "verifiedAt": "2026-09-14T08:20:11Z",
    "expiresAt": "2027-03-14T08:20:11Z"
  },
  "source": { "type": "owner", "label": null, "url": null, "retrievedAt": null }
}

What verification does not mean

• It does not mean SelfBadge vouches for the person's character or the quality of their work; it means the stated fact was proven by the stated method.
• A self-declared fact is not false; it is unchecked. Consumers should weigh it accordingly.
• Paying never changes a verification level.