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# Captive recipients

The Embedded Signing pattern introduces a new class of recipients referred to as Captive recipients. Captive refers to the exclusive relationship between the recipient and the sending account. In contrast, non-Captive recipients are Docusign-global entities that can have recipient relationships with an unlimited number of senders. Characteristics of Captive recipients are that they:

* Are identified by their FirstName, LastName, Email, sending account, and optionally a sender-provided ClientUserID.
* Have an exclusive relationship with their sending account. If another Docusign customer has sent documents to the same person, either as a Remote or Captive Recipient, the recipient information is not related in any way.
* Can access Docusign content only via their sending account’s application; they cannot login directly to Docusign.
* Do not have access to the Docusign Member Console.
* Do not receive email notifications from Docusign, except in cases specifically called out in this document.
* Cannot be aware that they have an account in Docusign.

Captive recipients can co-exist with Remote recipients on a single envelope, but they cannot switch modalities after they are created. A Captive recipient cannot be converted to a Remote recipient at any point in the process. This is important to recognize during the client solution design phase, as Docusign must know how a recipient will interact with the client application at the time the envelope is created.