Persona Help Center
About Signals
Signals are passive data points that Persona automatically collects about a user during an Inquiry. Unlike Verifications, which require active user input and produce pass or fail results, Signals capture contextual information that can help assess risk. A single risk Signal may not definitively indicate fraud, but when combined with other risk attributes and verification results, it can contribute to a clearer assessment.
Why are Signals important?
Verifications are highly effective at catching fraud through direct, point-in-time checks, and their accuracy is further strengthened when combined with additional context. Signals provide that added context, helping surface patterns and risk indicators to support more informed decisions. For example, Signals can help to detect:
- Account Takeover: A user’s location is far from their stated residence
- Known bad actors: A user’s IP address has been previously associated with fraudulent activity
- Account Sharing: A user is logged in from a device and IP they’ve never used before
Persona exposes 50+ signals across population, environment, and image data, giving more context to make informed decisions about risk.
Signal categories by layer
Signals are organized into the following layers:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Network | IP address, Proxy detection, IP threat assessment, Network threat level, Tor detection, IP Burst |
| Behavioral | Session count, Shortcut usage, Behavioral flag, Geolocation delta, Off-hours activity, Bot Score |
| Device | GPS, Device type, Device identifier, Device integrity, Camera properties, Locale |
| Visual/Image | Gov ID, Gov ID & Selfie Liveness, Biometric comparison, Virtual camera risk |
| Processed/Ensemble | Behavior Threat Level, Risk Level, Selfie Liveness Risk Level |
Customers can see a full list of Inquiry Signals types and definitions in the Persona Dashboard.
How Signals work
The signals process follows three key steps:
- Collect — Signals are automatically captured as the user goes through their Inquiry flow.
- Configure — Signal schemas can be added or removed in the Inquiry template configuration page.
- Decide — Use signals as conditions in Flow Editor for dynamic branching, in Workflows for automating next steps, or in Inquiry Analytics for filtering and analysis.