diff --git a/lib/upgrade.txt b/lib/upgrade.txt
index f2e8d0b5243..83ae4a1ae30 100644
--- a/lib/upgrade.txt
+++ b/lib/upgrade.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ information provided here is intended especially for developers.
     - I set the field "<field_string>" to multiline
     - I follow "<link_string>"" in the open menu
 * Removed the lib/password_compat/lib/password.php file.
+* The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. They obey the configured user
+  policy and respect the privacy setting made by site administrators. The list of user identifiers should never be
+  hard-coded. Instead, the setting $CFG->showuseridentity should be always respected, which has always been the default
+  behaviour (MDL-59847).
 
 === 3.5 ===
 
diff --git a/user/selector/lib.php b/user/selector/lib.php
index 82782c419d7..34a553a008d 100644
--- a/user/selector/lib.php
+++ b/user/selector/lib.php
@@ -105,35 +105,16 @@ abstract class user_selector_base {
             $this->accesscontext = context_system::instance();
         }
 
-        // Populate the list of additional user identifiers to display.
+        // Check if some legacy code tries to override $CFG->showuseridentity.
         if (isset($options['extrafields'])) {
-            $this->extrafields = $options['extrafields'];
-        } else if (!empty($CFG->showuseridentity) &&
-                has_capability('moodle/site:viewuseridentity', $this->accesscontext)) {
-            $this->extrafields = explode(',', $CFG->showuseridentity);
-        } else {
-            $this->extrafields = array();
+            debugging('The user_selector classes do not support custom list of extra identity fields any more. '.
+                'Instead, the user identity fields defined by the site administrator will be used to respect '.
+                'the configured privacy setting.', DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
+            unset($options['extrafields']);
         }
 
-        // Filter out hidden identifiers if the user can't see them.
-        $hiddenfields = array_filter(explode(',', $CFG->hiddenuserfields));
-        $hiddenidentifiers = array_intersect($this->extrafields, $hiddenfields);
-
-        if ($hiddenidentifiers) {
-            if ($this->accesscontext->get_course_context(false)) {
-                // We are somewhere inside a course.
-                $canviewhiddenuserfields = has_capability('moodle/course:viewhiddenuserfields', $this->accesscontext);
-
-            } else {
-                // We are not inside a course.
-                $canviewhiddenuserfields = has_capability('moodle/user:viewhiddendetails', $this->accesscontext);
-            }
-
-            if (!$canviewhiddenuserfields) {
-                // Remove hidden identifiers from the list.
-                $this->extrafields = array_diff($this->extrafields, $hiddenidentifiers);
-            }
-        }
+        // Populate the list of additional user identifiers to display.
+        $this->extrafields = get_extra_user_fields($this->accesscontext);
 
         if (isset($options['exclude']) && is_array($options['exclude'])) {
             $this->exclude = $options['exclude'];
diff --git a/user/tests/userselector_test.php b/user/tests/userselector_test.php
index ae7ed6c78f1..fcb39b1ca86 100644
--- a/user/tests/userselector_test.php
+++ b/user/tests/userselector_test.php
@@ -241,6 +241,8 @@ class core_user_selector_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
         $implicitselector = new testable_user_selector('test');
         $explicitselector = new testable_user_selector('test', ['extrafields' => ['email', 'department']]);
 
+        $this->assertDebuggingCalled();
+
         foreach ($implicitselector->find_users('') as $found) {
             foreach ($found as $user) {
                 $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('idnumber', $user);
@@ -253,11 +255,11 @@ class core_user_selector_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
 
         foreach ($explicitselector->find_users('') as $found) {
             foreach ($found as $user) {
-                $this->assertObjectNotHasAttribute('idnumber', $user);
-                $this->assertObjectNotHasAttribute('country', $user);
-                $this->assertObjectNotHasAttribute('city', $user);
-                $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('email', $user);
-                $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('department', $user);
+                $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('idnumber', $user);
+                $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('country', $user);
+                $this->assertObjectHasAttribute('city', $user);
+                $this->assertObjectNotHasAttribute('email', $user);
+                $this->assertObjectNotHasAttribute('department', $user);
             }
         }
     }