User account vs Digital identity

Why they differ

An identity is who someone is; an account is one login they hold in one system. One identity can have many accounts.

Identity & access

A record in a system that lets a particular person or program log in, and holds the permissions it has been given.

Formal

An entry in an operating system or application that links one identity to its credentials, settings and permissions. One person may have several accounts, and some accounts belong to programs rather than people.

In plain English

Like a membership card at a gym - the card is not you, but it is how the gym knows you, what you have paid for and which classes you may join.

In practice

Before the yearly audit, the IT manager at a small Danish company compares the list of active user accounts with HR's staff list and finds six accounts still open for people who left last year.

Why it matters

Every action is recorded against an account, so accounts are the basis for both access and accountability; shared or forgotten accounts break both and give attackers an unnoticed way in.

Digital identity

Identity & access

The set of facts that lets a computer system tell one person, device or program apart from all others.

Formal

The details a system records about one person, device or program - such as a name, an email address or an employee number - within a given context. It describes who a person or thing is said to be; proving that claim is a separate step, and one person may hold several identities.

In plain English

Like the details in a passport - name, birth date, photo - which together say who you are, before anyone has checked that it is really you.

In practice

In Denmark, MitID ties a person's CPR number to one digital identity that banks, the tax authority and the municipality all recognise.

Why it matters

Every access decision and every audit log entry points back to an identity; if identities are muddled or shared, no one can be held accountable.

Shared connections

Credential