diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 6138399..36ad821 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-.env
 .git
 .gitignore
 README.md
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 08341e5..215c2a6 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -50,12 +50,7 @@ func main() {
 		MaxAge:   60 * 80 * 24 * 7, // 7 days
 		HttpOnly: true,
 		Secure:   os.Getenv("ENV") == "production",
-		SameSite: func() http.SameSite {
-			if os.Getenv("CORS_ORIGINS") != "" {
-				return http.SameSiteNoneMode
-			}
-			return http.SameSiteLaxMode
-		}(),
+		SameSite: http.SameSiteLaxMode,
 	})
 	r.Use(sessions.Sessions("rideaware-session", store))
 
diff --git a/services/user_service.go b/services/user_service.go
index 80c270e..c34d8a4 100644
--- a/services/user_service.go
+++ b/services/user_service.go
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ func NewUserService(db *gorm.DB) *UserService {
 }
 
 func (s *UserService) CreateUser(username, email, password string) (*models.User, error) {
-	username = strings.TrimSpace(username)
-	email = strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(email))
 	if username == "" || email == "" || password == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("username, email, and password are required")
 	}
@@ -38,15 +36,12 @@ func (s *UserService) CreateUser(username, email, password string) (*models.User
 	var existingUser models.User
 	if err := s.db.Where("username = ? OR email = ?", username, email).First(&existingUser).Error; err == nil {
 		return nil, errors.New("user with this username or email already exists")
-	} else if !errors.Is(err, gorm.ErrRecordNotFound) {
-		log.Printf("Error checking existing users: %v", err)
-		return nil, errors.New("could not create user")
 	}
 
 	// Create new user
 	user := models.User{
 		Username: username,
-		Email:    strings.ToLower(email),
+		Email:    email,
 	}
 	if err := user.SetPassword(password); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Error hashing password: %v", err)
@@ -64,8 +59,7 @@ func (s *UserService) CreateUser(username, email, password string) (*models.User
 func (s *UserService) VerifyUser(username, password string) (*models.User, error) {
 	var user models.User
 	identifier := strings.TrimSpace(username)
-	lid := strings.ToLower(identifier)
-	if err := s.db.Where("username = ? OR LOWER(email) = ?", identifier, lid).First(&user).Error; err != nil {
+	if err := s.db.Where("username = ? OR email = ?", identifier, strings.ToLower(identifier)).First(&user).Error; err != nil {
 		if errors.Is(err, gorm.ErrRecordNotFound) {
 			return nil, errors.New("invalid username or password")
 		}