diff --git a/lib/User.php b/lib/User.php
index 56e716b..afe4920 100644
--- a/lib/User.php
+++ b/lib/User.php
@@ -90,10 +90,10 @@ class User {
     }
     
     public function propertiesGet(string $user): array {
+        $extra = $this->u->userPropertiesGet($user);
         // unconditionally retrieve from the database to get at least the user number, and anything else the driver does not provide
         $out = Arsse::$db->userPropertiesGet($user);
         // layer on the driver's data
-        $extra = $this->u->userPropertiesGet($user);
         foreach (["lang", "tz", "admin", "sort_asc"] as $k) {
             if (array_key_exists($k, $extra)) {
                 $out[$k] = $extra[$k] ?? $out[$k];
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class User {
         return $out;
     }
     
-    public function propertiesSet(string $user, array $data): bool {
+    public function propertiesSet(string $user, array $data): array {
         $in = [];
         if (array_key_exists("tz", $data)) {
             if (!is_string($data['tz'])) {
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class User {
         }
         $out = $this->u->userPropertiesSet($user, $in);
         // synchronize the internal database
-        Arsse::$db->userPropertiesSet($user, $in);
+        Arsse::$db->userPropertiesSet($user, $out);
         return $out;
     }
 }
diff --git a/lib/User/Driver.php b/lib/User/Driver.php
index 6bfa25b..dbf8ad6 100644
--- a/lib/User/Driver.php
+++ b/lib/User/Driver.php
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ interface Driver {
     /** Lists all users */
     public function userList(): array;
 
-    /** sets a user's password
+    /** Sets a user's password
      * 
      * When given no password the implementation may return null; the user
      * manager will then generate a random password and try again with that
@@ -46,10 +46,35 @@ interface Driver {
      */
     public function userPasswordSet(string $user, ?string $newPassword, string $oldPassword = null);
 
-    /** removes a user's password; this makes authentication fail unconditionally 
+    /** Removes a user's password; this makes authentication fail unconditionally 
      * 
      * @param string $user The user for whom to change the password
      * @param string|null $oldPassword The user's previous password, if known
      */
     public function userPasswordUnset(string $user, string $oldPassword = null): bool;
+
+    /** Retrieves metadata about a user
+     * 
+     * Any expected keys not returned by the driver are taken from the internal
+     * database instead; the expected keys at this time are:
+     * 
+     * - admin: A boolean denoting whether the user has administrator privileges
+     * - lang: A BCP 47 language tag e.g. "en", "hy-Latn-IT-arevela"
+     * - tz: A zoneinfo timezone e.g. "Asia/Jakarta", "America/Argentina/La_Rioja"
+     * - sort_asc: A boolean denoting whether the user prefers articles to be sorted oldest-first
+     * 
+     * Any other keys will be ignored.
+     */
+    public function userPropertiesGet(string $user): array;
+
+    /** Sets metadata about a user
+     * 
+     * Output should be the same as the input, unless input is changed prior to storage
+     * (if it is, for instance, normalized in some way), which which case the changes
+     * should be reflected in the output.
+     * 
+     * @param string $user The user for which to set metadata
+     * @param array $data The input data; see userPropertiesGet for keys
+     */
+    public function userPropertiesSet(string $user, array $data): array;
 }
diff --git a/lib/User/Internal/Driver.php b/lib/User/Internal/Driver.php
index 5114498..6b8e443 100644
--- a/lib/User/Internal/Driver.php
+++ b/lib/User/Internal/Driver.php
@@ -70,4 +70,22 @@ class Driver implements \JKingWeb\Arsse\User\Driver {
     protected function userExists(string $user): bool {
         return Arsse::$db->userExists($user);
     }
+
+    public function userPropertiesGet(string $user): array {
+        // do nothing: the internal database will retrieve everything for us
+        if (!$this->userExists($user)) {
+            throw new Exception("doesNotExist", ['action' => "userPasswordUnset", 'user' => $user]);
+        } else {
+            return [];
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function userPropertiesSet(string $user, array $data): array {
+        // do nothing: the internal database will set everything for us
+        if (!$this->userExists($user)) {
+            throw new Exception("doesNotExist", ['action' => "userPasswordUnset", 'user' => $user]);
+        } else {
+            return $data;
+        }
+    }
 }