While I worked on HN I did this for a few users. I required that the account they wanted to update positively identify them (via comments they'd made, items in

While I worked on HN I did this for a few users. I required that the account they wanted to update positively identify them (via comments they'd made, items in their profile, etc), and that they be able to prove they were the same person. Definitely something we handled on a case by case basis and declined to do if we weren't comfortable.