{{Short description|Signed-in or logged-in user}} {{About|users registered to any system|information on registering to Wikipedia|:Wikipedia:Tutorial/Registration}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Internet}}
A '''registered user''' is a user of a website, program, or other systems who has previously ''registered''. Registered users normally provide some sort of credentials (such as a username or e-mail address, and a password) to the system in order to prove their identity: this is known as logging in. Systems intended for use by the general public often allow any user to register simply by selecting a ''register'' or ''sign up'' function and providing these credentials for the first time. Registered users may be granted privileges beyond those granted to unregistered users.
==Rationale== User registration and login enables a system to personalize itself. For example, a website might display a welcome banner with the user's name and change its appearance or behavior according to preferences indicated by the user. The system may also allow a logged-in user to send and receive messages, and to view and modify personal files or other information.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chandra |first1=Shobhana |last2=Verma |first2=Sanjeev |last3=Lim |first3=Weng Marc |last4=Kumar |first4=Satish |last5=Donthu |first5=Naveen |date=August 2022 |title=Personalization in personalized marketing: Trends and ways forward |journal=Psychology & Marketing |language=en |volume=39 |issue=8 |pages=1529–1562 |doi=10.1002/mar.21670 |issn=0742-6046|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Criticism== ===Privacy concerns=== {{further|information privacy|Internet privacy}} Registration necessarily provides more personal information to a system than it would otherwise have. Even if the credentials used are otherwise meaningless, the system can distinguish a logged-in user from other users and might use this property to store a history of users' actions or activity, possibly without their knowledge or consent. While many systems have privacy policies, depending on the nature of the system, a user might not have any way of knowing for certain exactly what information is stored, how it is used, and with whom, if anyone, it is shared. A system could even sell information it has gathered on its users to third parties for advertising or other purposes.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} The subject of systems' transparency in this regard is one of ongoing debate.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
===User inconvenience=== Registration may be seen as an annoyance or hindrance,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2004/07/we-dont-need-no-stinkin-login/|title=We don't need no stinkin' login|magazine=Wired|date=20 July 2004|first=Rachel |last=Metz}}</ref> especially if it is not inherently necessary or important (for example, in the context of a search engine) or if the system repeatedly prompts users to register. A system's registration process might also be time-consuming or require that the user provide the information they might be reluctant to, such as a home address or social security number.
==See also== {{columns-list| * Access control * Active users * Background checks * Do Not Track * Electronic identification * Solid (web decentralization project) * Unique user * Closed platform }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Computer access control