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case-sensitivecase-insensitiveemail-address

May I safely treat email addresses lower case?

In theory emails are case sensitive. But using emails as system login I want them to be all lower case (i.e. john@smith.com and John@smith.com cannot be different users).

Can this be a problem for some users who use case sensitivity in their email address? Does somebody use it out there?

Edit: Because there are many "preserve case on save, ignore on login" answers: This system would break if I really had two different users john@smith and John@smith, wouldn't it?

Example: john@smith and John@smith have the password 123. How do I know which one just authenticated?

Solution

  • Some systems are case sensitive.

    I'd suggest it be preserved but ignored a la windows filesystems.

    i.e. remember john signed up with John@smith.com but let him log in as JOHN@smith.com, john@smith.com or JohN@smith.com.

    It's unlikely to cause conflicts and if anyone has a case-sensitive email I'm sure they'll be aware of it.